The 2014 Sochi Olympics may have ended but as the world gears up for the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro the scholarly world is still thinking about the Olympics.

Department chair of politics and government professor Jules Boykoff of Pacific University will discuss at a lecture the history of the Olympics and how the ideologies of it have changed since it started.

Boykoff will examine how the Olympics were founded to promote peace through sports while preparing young men for war, and have since shifted to a more capitalist and economic model.

In Boykoff’s recent book published in 2013, “Celebration Capitalism and the Olympic Games” discusses the mass media-trumpeted political spectacle, commercialism, lopsided public-private partnerships, sustainability claims, and the push for local police enforcement to prevent terrorism at the games.

Boykoff will present his lecture, “On Celebration Capitalism” at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, in the Austin Reading Room at Nicholson Library.

This event is sponsored by Nicholson Library and the Program for Liberal Arts and Civic Engagement.

For questions concerning this event contact professor Tom Mertes at [email protected] or at 503-883-2759.

Jonathan Williams

Opinion editor

Jonathan Williams   can          be            reached   at
[email protected].