Exchange is a result of partnership between PUCRS and Technical University of Kaiserslautern
Photo: Camila Cunha
The School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (Fefid) opened its doors to graduate student Erik Rohde, from Technical University of Kaiserslautern (Germany), to develop research activities related to the Olympic Games of Rio 2016. Rohde will join the Fefid’s Olympic Studies Research Group (GPEO), from July to September 2017.
Rohde’s investigation will look at how the Olympic Games were portrayed by the media and how, in consequence of that, its image was perceived by the host country. The researcher will conduct an analysis of the quality of the event and find out whether the Olympic principles were followed in accordance with the Olympic Charter, as well as the Olympic values of Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the Modern Olympic Games. In addition, he will look at how successful the International Olympic Committee was as the supreme body of the Games and Brazilians’ attitudes as hosts as well.
Rohde has studied the coverage of the event by international newspapers from different countries (Germany, Switzerland and United States). “Unfortunately, reviews were mostly negative. The international print media often did not communicate the fundamental Olympic principles and values. I will base my research in the GPEO, under the advising of Professor Nelson Todt. In collaboration with students, the coverage the Olympic Games by a Brazilian newspaper (Folha de São Paulo) will be looked at in order to have both coverages, national and international, compared”, explains Rohde.
The GPEO, as well as the partnership between PUCRS and Technical University of Kaiserslautern, offers Rohde the ideal requirements for carrying out his research project. Relying on the support of the Olympic researcher Professor Todt and his Brazilian students, he wants to intensify research on the field of Olympic affairs, thereby gaining a better understanding of each other’s working methods and confirming the strong relationship between our universities.
“My stay in Brazil is linked to research and study exchange, and beyond a personal growth and expansion of my own consciousness due to the confrontation with new linguistic, cultural and socioeconomic insights in your impressive country. PUCRS is a great place for academic exchange as well as to magnify your own personal study horizon. The Campus is wide and beautiful, rich with buildings and many different departments. The Sports Park is equipped with fantastic equipment and state-of-the-art facilities. The students are kind and helpful in all case of problems. I really enjoy being here and I want to thank everybody who made my stay here possible”, says Rohde.
On the first days of August, Rohde went to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Olympic Studies Forum 2017. The event brought together scholars and researchers from the Olympic themes, as well as technical staff in the management of the Olympic and Paralympic events of 2016. “This conference is a great opportunity to present and also receive latest information on research projects on the field of Olympic matters. I delivered my research findings and the actual cooperation project at PUCRS in a short lecture.”
The visit of Professor Norbert Müller, from Technical University of Kaiserslautern, to PUCRS in order to attend the launch of the book Olimpismo – Seleção de Textos, in 2015, served to strengthen the relationship between the two universities. Müller and Todt have edited the book. The publication brings Pierre de Coubertin’s texts, as a project of the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee with the support of PUCRS.
The partnership is intended to promote teaching and research faculty and student exchanges, implement joint research projects, promote cultural and scientific events, and the exchange of academic information and publications. The first actions took place during the Olympic Game at Rio 2016, with collection of data for another research on the perception of the spectators on the future of the Olympic Games.
“We search for information that is in line with the changes established by the International Olympic Committee’s 2020 agenda for the renovation of Games. We interviewed 1,233 people during the events of Modern Pentathlon at the Rio 2016 Games”, tells Todt, who is a member of the Brazilian Olympic Academy and president of the Brazilian Committee Pierre de Coubertin. The study was develop by Todt, by Müller and by PUCRS’ School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences Professor, Alessandra Scarton, with the endorsement of the International Modern Pentathlon Federation.
