Sport, Race and Ethnicity: Building a Global Understanding, 30 Nov - 2 Dec 2008.

A conference hosted by the School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism, University of Technology Sydney, Australia, with support from the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre and the Australian Centre for Olympic Studies, UTS Sydney.

Background
Sport has long been a paradoxical environment with respect to issues of 'race', indigeneity, ethnicity, and social diversity. For much of the 20th century sports around the world were enclaves of difference. Whites and non-whites, for example, were separated on the sports field as they were, in many ways, off the field. Today sport is much more inclusive, with athletic ability of greater importance than skin colour or ancestry. Yet emnity and antagonism still appear in sport via instances of racial vilification or hostility between some ethnic groups. Other problems include the relative absence of minorities from positions of power and influence in sport, as well as folkloric assumptions about athletic ability based upon stereotypes about 'race' or ancestry. The Sport, Race and Ethnicity Conference provides a forum within which to engage the sport industry, journalists and academics in proactive discussion about issues of diversity, equity and capacity in the colourful world of global sport.

Context
The 2008 Sydney conference, hosted by the School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism at the University of Technology Sydney, is a sequel to the inaugural Sport and Race: Building a Global Understanding symposium staged by the University of Iowa in 2006. The inclusion of ethnicity in the Sydney event enables a broader focus on issues of diversity, taking in themes of ancestry, identity, nationality and religion. This panoramic approach, covering 'race', indigeneity and ethnicity, is consistent with the global migration of professional athletes, as well as the multicultural contexts of sport in societies like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The conference is therefore well placed to discuss international dimensions of sport and the special circumstances of sport in particular countries.

Delegates wishing to present a paper at the conference are required to submit an abstract, which can be downloaded via the Abstracts page.

Themes for discussion include

• Patterns of change in terms of race, indigeneity and ethnicity in sport
  
• Inclusion or exclusion from sport on the basis of race, indigeneity or ethnicity
  
• Policy innovations with respect to race, indigeneity and ethnicity in sport
  
• Assumptions of athletic ability according to race, indigeneity or ethnicity
  
• Media representations of race, indigeneity and ethnicity in sport
  
• Sport for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities
  
• Career opportunities in and around sport for CALD communities
  
• Sports stars as role models for CALD communities
  
• Sport and gender differences in CALD communities

Keynote speakers

• Prof John Hoberman, University of Texas at Austin, USA
  
• Dr Kevin Hylton, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
  
• Prof John Sugden, University of Brighton, UK

Conference venue

University of Technology Sydney, Haymarket Campus
Cnr Quay Street & Ultimo Road, Haymarket, Sydney 2007
http://www.uts.edu.au/about/mapsdirections/citymap.html

Conference organisers

School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism and Faculty of Business, University of Technology Sydney.

Conference contact

Associate Professor Daryl Adair (PhD)
School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism
University of Technology Sydney,
Kuring -gai Campus, PO Box 222 Lindfield, 2070
Phone: 00 11 61 (2) 9514 5498
Fax: 00 11 61 (2) 9514 5195
Email: Daryl.Adair@uts.edu.au.