This is the prompt and my outline as well as the sources I used cited in Chicago Format.
The purpose of this assignment is to help you pull together what you’ve learned so far from your research and to guide you to figuring the rest out. And, of course, to show me your progress. The goal here is to identify gaps in your research or progress so you can correct course or make any necessary adjustments to you question or research. Although I will grade in part for content, meaning you should be thorough in your answers and cite sources, completion counts the most. I want to see where you are in your project and where you’re headed.
Complete the following sections based on the work you’ve done and your plans for the final format of the project.
RESEARCH QUESTION—Clearly state your Research Question. Then, give me a little bit of context about what makes it historical and relevant to this course. For example, what change are you investigating? Why are the event(s) you’re researching significant in terms of the impact they had on the present or events that followed them? Or, what lessons does the event(s) or topic you’re studying offer for the present or future?
How has the Olympic Games’ commitment to Olympism and its ideals of promoting peace, mutual understanding, and fair play evolved over time across the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics?
PROJECT FORMAT—In which format will you present your research and what do you expect it to look like? For example, if you are doing a Timeline, tell me that and add details like the file format (e.g., PowerPoint, Word, Prezi). If you’re doing a Creative Project, tell me the medium and how you plan to incorporate the Historiography and other information.
I would like to do the project in the format of a timeline in powerpoint which will have a slide with all of the events I will be discovering as well as each slide dedicated to a certain date. I would also like to see if I can make it into a children’s book somehow.
DRAFT HISTORIOGRAPHY—Using your 5+ scholarly sources, identify the main themes, questions, and findings in the scholarly research on your topic. Then, describe how your research fits with this historiography (scholarly discussions related to your topic) with a particular focus on how your research draws from and will build on these sources. Think of this as your prompt: What have scholars already shown us related to your topic and how/what does your research question fit with, build on, or challenge their findings? Insert a footnote whenever you refer to a source(s).
I decided to do my project on a topic that goes hand in hand with what we have done in this class so the main themes of my topic include politics in sports, the values of Olympism and how each host country either adheres to them or not, as well as the general relationship between the Olympics and politics and the effect they have on each other. So far I have not done extensive research, however, when I think back on what Zolov wrote in his article, he made a point that Mexico used the Olympics intentionally in a way that some people did not think was effective.1 Jennifer Parks had a similar article about the Moscow Games in 1980.2 Overall, the Olympics are an extremely powerful political tool used by many countries to this day.
PROJECT OUTLINE—Share what you’ve learned related to your research question so far and some ideas for structuring your answer. Don’t repeat what’s above, but add details. For example, you know the specific events you’re going to include in the Timeline, list those and add anything you know about what you’ll say. Add footnotes whenever you refer to a source. For a Creative Project, give me some examples of how your creative project shows your research. If you have other sections of the Research Report done, you can paste those here.
Introduction
Define Olympism and its core ideals (peace, mutual understanding, fair play, etc.)
Thesis statement: Examine how the Olympic Games’ commitment to Olympism has evolved across different eras and global contexts.
1936 Berlin Olympics
Historical context (rise of Nazism, racial discrimination, etc.)
Controversies and challenges to Olympic ideals (Berlin Games as a propaganda tool, exclusion of athletes based on race/ethnicity, etc.)
Efforts or instances that upheld Olympism despite the controversies
1968 Mexico City Olympics
Historical context (civil unrest, student protests, Cold War tensions, etc.)
Challenges to Olympic ideals (Black Power salute, student massacre, political tensions, etc.)
Initiatives or moments that promoted Olympism (cultural exchange, international cooperation, etc.)
2008 Beijing Olympics
Historical context (China’s rise as a global power, human rights concerns, etc.)
Controversies and criticisms related to Olympic values (censorship, pollution, political agenda, etc.)
Efforts to uphold Olympism (promoting diversity, environmental initiatives, etc.)
2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics
Historical context (Brazil’s economic and political turmoil, Zika virus outbreak, etc.)
Challenges to Olympic ideals (doping scandals, security concerns, environmental issues, etc.)
Instances that exemplified Olympism (unity, sportsmanship, cultural exchange, etc.)
Analysis and Conclusion
Comparative analysis of how Olympism was interpreted and prioritized across the four Games
Factors that influenced the adherence or departure from Olympic ideals (political agendas, societal changes, global events, etc.)
Overall evolution and future outlook for upholding Olympism in the Olympic Movement
PROGRESS REPORT—How’s your research going? Tell me what you’ve done so far and how much time you’ve been able to spend. What do you feel confident about? What are you struggling with? What questions have come up about the topic, sources, format—anything? What can I do that will be most helpful for you?
So far I have been able to find sources that cover almost all of the Games that I want to analyze in the paper. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I feel confident that I will be able to find more information and create a good timeline. Mostly, I just struggle with taking the time to find the information I need and being able to put that into writing on paper. I think a timeline format will definitely make it a little easier for me in that sense. The sources I have found so far are more about politics rather than the adherence to Olympism in the Games so I might change my question a little bit. If possible, I would like to see a sample of the project done with a timeline just to get a general idea.
Cl na Dála. European Parliament : Resolution on Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan, 16 January, 1980. Oral Histories, 2022. https://jstor.org/stable/community.34608388.
Cull, Nicholas J. “The Public Diplomacy of the Modern Olympic Games and China’s Soft Power Strategy.” In Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China, edited by Monroe E. Price and Daniel Dayan, 117–44. University of Michigan Press, 2008. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv65sw9q.7.
Parks, Jenifer. “Welcoming the ‘Third World’: Soviet Sport Diplomacy, Developing Nations, and the Olympic Games.” In Diplomatic Games: Sport, Statecraft, and International Relations since 1945, edited by Heather Dichter and Andrew L. Johns, 85–114. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2014.
Reid, Heather L. “Why Olympia Matters for Modern Sport: Warren Fraleigh Distinguished Scholar Lecture.” In Reflecting on Modern Sport in Ancient Olympia: Proceedings of the 2016 Meeting of the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport at the International Olympic Academy, edited by Heather L. Reid and Eric Moore, 171–88. Parnassos Press – Fonte Aretusa, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvbj7gdq.18.
American Youth Congress. Move the Olympics from Nazi Germany! Documents, 1935. https://jstor.org/stable/community.9286557.
Ban Ki-moon. Letters from Ban Ki-Moon to Vladimir V. Putin President of the Russian Federation, Vitaly I. Churkin Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, and Thomas Bach President International Olympic Committee. Letters (Correspondence), 2014. https://jstor.org/stable/community.29510425.
International Olympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee and the Modern Olympic Games. 1933. Olympic World Library. Accessed May 16, 2024. https://library.olympic.org/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/62045/the-international-olympic-committee-and-the-modern-olympic-games-international-olympic-committee
Kikulis, Lisa M. “Contemporary Policy Issues in High Performance Sport.” In Sport Policy in Canada, edited by Lucie Thibault and Jean Harvey, 97–145. University of Ottawa Press, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hjk9x.6.
LA84. 1937. “XI Olympic Games, Berlin, 1936 : Official Report, V.1.” LA84. 1937. https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll8/id/15826.
New York Times. 1936. “Olympic History.” Archive.nytimes.com. May 24, 1936. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/specials/olympics/history/owens-reich.html.
“Olympic Games (Cont’d).” TIME Magazine 28, no. 7 (August 17, 1936): 37–40. https://research-ebsco-com.unh-proxy01.newhaven.edu/linkprocessor/plink?id=a95669df-5fcb-3fa5-b195-97fa149bf95c.
Passports for Jews Demonstration, Burlington House Plaza , 3/9/1979, Item 01. Documents. Passports for Jews Demonstration, Burlington House Plaza , 3/9/1979, 1979. https://jstor.org/stable/community.33050711.
The Economic Impact of Mega Sport Event, 2019. https://jstor.org/stable/community.34031344.
Tomlinson, Alan. “Olympic Values, Beijing’s Olympic Games, and the Universal Market.” In Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China, edited by Monroe E. Price and Daniel Dayan, 67–85. University of Michigan Press, 2008. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv65sw9q.5.
