LECTURE: 2013 Alan Ingham Memorial

2013 Alan Ingham Memorial lecture.

This lecture (held every other year) and hosted by the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Miami University recognizes the considerable contributions and achievements of Dr. Alan G. Ingham, who passed away in 2005. Alan Ingham first came to Miami University in 1984 as a professor in Sport Studies. His research and teaching both emphasized social justice ideals and he was among the first scholars to apply a critical perspective to the sociology of sport. He also contributed to the early literature on the cultural studies of sport and physical activity, and earned an international reputation for his advocacy of interdisciplinary approaches to sport and physical culture.

For this year's lecture KNH will be hosting Dr. Peter Donnelly, Professor with the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto on March 25, 2013 at 7:30 pm in the McGuffey Hall Auditorium (room 322). Dr. Donnelly is among the most accomplished sport sociologists in North America. He is author of numerous journal articles and has published or edited 3 books. He is the director of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies at the University of Toronto.  At Miami Dr. Donnelly will present a talk entitled, "Proolympism and the Crisis of Governance in Sport."  An abstract of his talk follows: 

In 2000, Sunder Katwala wrote: "It is difficult to think of anything that is so badly governed as international sport." The situation has not improved in the last dozen years and governance problems are also evident in national sporting organizations, professional sport, and interuniversity sport. These include problems with the integrity of sport (doping, gambling and match-fixing); corruption and problems with financial transparency and accountability in sporting organizations; lack of equitable representation and democratized governance in sport organizations; problems with athlete health and safety, and violence control; problems with labour relations, team selection, and other aspects of due process for athletes; and problems of athlete maltreatment and child protection in sport.  I coined the term "prolympism" in the 1990s to reflect the convergence of the two major ideologies of sport participation--Olympic amateur ideals, and professional ideals. The spreading crises of governance appears to be an unintended consequence of that convergence and the emergence of a global sport monoculture. When this is combined with a tendency to not take sport seriously, and the fact that "sports….  take place in a separate [autonomous] sphere, detached from normal rules and regulations in society" (Bruyninckx, 2011), there is a clear need for regulation.

Sponsored by The Department of Kinesiology and Health, the Humanities Center, the School of Education, Health and Society Harry Armigoda Lecture Fund, the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, the Honors Program and the American Studies Program. Special thanks to Christine Ingham and family.

For more information contact Mary McDonald at mcdonamg@muohio.edu.