Sport, Race and Ethnicity: Building a Global Understanding, 30 Nov - 2 Dec 2008.
An international 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.
This event is staged in partnership with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), both of which are committed to cultural diversity and anti-discrimination in society. AHRC supports programs that facilitate human rights awareness and compliance, while DIAC conducts projects that aim to promote respect, fairness, inclusion and a sense of belonging to everyone. Together AHRC and DIAC funded the 2007 report What's the Score? A Survey of Cultural Diversity and Racism in Australian Sport, a document that will be discussed at the Sport, Race and Ethinicity conference.
 
For further details of AHRC and DIAC policies, programs and support initiatives, please consult the Conference Partners section of the Sport, Race and Ethnicity web site.
Background and Purpose
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. Sport has, of course, 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.
Issues around race, indigeneity and ethnicity are of profound significance in Australian society, and nowhere more so than in the cosmopolitan city of Sydney. Importantly, sport can play a role in linking multicultural groups and diverse communities, something that sport organisations and governments are recognising more than ever. The Sport, Race and Ethnicity conference will foster debate about policies and programs for sport as it applies to society generally, but with a specific focus on the engagement and inclusion of persons from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Today Australian sport bodies, sponsors and governments realise the importance of investing in sport as means of helping to create social capital among communities, and as a commitment to values of social responsibility and cross-cultural inclusion in Australian society.
Thematic Context
 On 26 Dec 1908 in Sydney, Australia, the African-American boxer Jack Johnson (USA) defeated 'white' title holder Tommy Burns (Canada), claiming the world heavy-weight championship & effectively breaking the 'colour bar' in American boxing. That moment, which had international ramifications for the world of sport, is captured in the photograph at the bottom of this page.
One hundred years later, in the same city where this momentous event took place, delegates are invited to discuss ways in which notions of 'race' and ethnicity have shaped world sport, and continue to do so. These areas of focus are conceived broadly, and may thus encompass interrelated themes such as indigeneity and cultural and linguistic diversity. Attendees from every part of the globe and any social background will be made equally welcome.
 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
- Management initiatives with respect to 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
- What’s the Score? A Survey of Cultural Diversity and Racism in Australian Sport
- Assumptions of athletic ability according to race, indigeneity or ethnicity
- Media representations of race, indigeneity and ethnicity in sport
Keynote speakers
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.
SRE snippet 1
Jack Johnson (USA) fighting Tommy Burns (Canada) for the Heavyweight Championship of the World, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney Australia, 26 Dec 1908.
Source: State Library of New South Wales, Image no. XV1/Pub/Stad/1.
The Ken Burns documentary of Johnson's life, Unforgivable Blackness, is reviewed at http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness.
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