INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

Background
CENTER FOR OLYMPIC STUDIES IN ISRAEL:
PRESENT AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
Dr Gilad WEINGARTEN (ISR)
Israel is a member of the Olympic family since 1951 and took part
in the Olympic Games since Helsinki-1952. In spite of this the
Olympic Committee of Israel had not dealt with the educational aspect
of the Olympic phenomenon in a systematic manner until the year of
2003 during which the Center for Olympic studies was founded. The
initiative and motivation stemmed from the Olympic Committee but a
partner was needed and as a result of lengthy negotiations the Zinman
College for Physical Education and sport at the Wingate Institute
(Israel's Sport Center) undertook the task.
The advocates at Zinman viewed this partnership as an opportunity to
bring sport and the Olympic Games back to focus re-emphasising the,
somewhat shadowed in educational institutions, merits of sport
participation, competitive excellence and Olympic spirit. Thus, in the
framework of the center, the college has agreed to add to its list of
elective courses and seminars several Olympic related ones and offer
them to willing 3 rd and 4 th year students. The Olympic Committee has,
on the other hand, agreed to transfer most of its educational activities
to the newborn center.
Course Work
This year, three new courses (30 hrs. per course) and three new
seminars (60 hrs. per seminars) are being offered to undergraduate
students, a total of 9 academic credits. One course deals with the
historical aspects of old and modern Olympics emphasizing both the
reflection of and the symbiotic relations between the history of the
Olympic Games and simultaneous world developments. Another
course concentrates on social issues related to the Games with special
reference to modern media theory. The third course is totally devoted
to the interrelationships between media and the Olympics indicating
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