The Olympics: Intercultural Sports Arena

(interactive webinar)

The 2024 Summer Olympics will be taking place in Paris, France touting the motto “Games Wide Open.” What do you think of when you hear the word “Olympics?” What images or words immediately come to mind? Rings, torches, sporting events, athletes, medals, grandeur, glory, redemption….Regardless of your interest, when the Olympic Games are mentioned, we think of this extraordinary sporting event that occurs every other year in a vacuum. 

The reality is that the Games are a mirror reflecting back at us: current global affairs, societal changes and intercultural interactions.In this workshop, I am exploring the ways in which sports intersect with intercultural communication discourse through the lens of the Olympic Games. 

These discourses include (but aren’t not limited to) representation, discrimination, geopolitics, financial barriers, boycotts, social issues, mental health, environmental impacts, human displacement, physical abilities, etc. By examining these discourses, the audience will be able to discuss how interculturalism can be fostered in such spaces, especially on a global scale. The audience will work in teams to participate in exercises of real-life events that have occurred during the modern Games’ 128-year history. The exercises examine such discourses and ways in which the Games can be improved upon through intercultural competence. Participants will walk away with new reflections, talking points and examples to bring back to their intercultural trainings.