Purpose & Mission
The International Centre for Olympic Studies, established at The University of Western Ontario in 1989, was the first of its kind in the world. It remains the only such Centre in the Americas. It has as its primary mission the generation and dissemination of academic scholarship focused specifically on the socio-cultural study of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement. In order to bring this endeavour to fruition, the Centre pursues the following four initiatives:
- The Centre produces Olympika: The International Journal of Olympic Studies. This refereed scholarly journal, which has an internationally recognized editorial review board, is currently published annually, and is available for subscription throughout the world.
- The Centre hosts an International Symposium for Olympic Research in every Olympic year. The Centre publishes an Edited Collection of these symposia.
- The Centre organizes and sponsors regular guest lectures presented by recognized scholars and professionals. The lectures include three annual honor addresses entitled the Ion P. Ioannides, the J. Howard Crocker, and the Earle F. Zeigler Lectures.
- The Centre maintains a resource centre in its home in the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Health Sciences Building (Room 317) for the use of visiting researchers, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and members of the general public.
