I have been conducting research on the Olympic Games cultural dimension since 1999, in particular, the Cultural Olympiad or official Olympic Arts Festivals.
Case studies to date include Sydney 2000, Salt Lake 2002, Athens 2004, Torino 2006 and Beijing 2008. Since 2004, I am also acting as academic observer and advisor to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
By linking on this blog categories for Olympic Games, Cultural Olympiad, and relevant city case studies you will access a selection of relevant publication abstracts, presentations and research summaries.
Find below an overview of the main Olympic Games related projects I have conducted and completed to date.
Current projects
- Cultural programming at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (2008 ) Research funded by the Universities’ China Committee in London. This project involves field work during the Beijing Olympic Games. This work involves working as an embedded journalists/researcher within the Non-Accredited Media Centre at the Olympic Games, through which the communication of cultural aspects of the Games takes place.
Completed projects
- Co-investigator (with Dr Andy Miah): Towards London 2012: Non-accredited Media, Cultural Discourses, and Olympic Host City Identity (January 2006-2008 ) Research funded by the British Academy. We have undertaken fieldwork at the Turin Winter Olympic Games (February 2006), pre-Olympic Beijing (September 2006) and regular observations with the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games (2006-7). [Research Background]
- From Athens 2004 to London 2012: the contribution of non-accredited media centres to the Olympic Games host city (January-December 2004, in collaboration with Andy Miah, University of Paisley) – Research funded by the British Academy. The project involved one month of field-work in Athens during the Olympic sport competitions (August 2004). This project had led to the creation of the specialist magazine Culture @ the Olympics. [View Research Summary | Research Diary]
- Analysis of the programming, management and promotion of the Sydney 1997-2000 Olympic Arts Festivals (Mar 1999-Jun 2002) – Research supported by a Mobility Grant by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), an Olympic Research Grant by the Olympic Studies Centre at the UAB, and grants by the International Olympic Academy and the Olympic Museum –International Olympic Committee. The research results have been incorporated in my PhD Thesis, ‘Towards a Cultural Policy for Great Events’ and will be published within a monograph by Routledge in 2009.
- Cultural Policy of the Olympic Movement. A review of cultural agendas and structures at the International Olympic Committee (Apr-May 2001) – Funded by the Postgraduate Research Grant Programme 2000 of the Olympic Museum and Olympic Studies Centre, International Olympic Committee.