From February 17 to 19, 2020, the Health Promotion Model Unit of Waseda University organized the International Symposium “Alberta-Waseda International Workshop”, inviting the Dean and its delegation of faculty members at the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation (KSR) from one of our university-wise partner institutions, the University of Alberta in Canada.
With participation from internal and external guest professors, the Top Global University International Symposium, three-day academic event, took place in Waseda Campus focusing on a topic titled “Sports Business and Recreation” and providing faculties’ academia as well as onsite visits related to Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
DAY-1: February 17 (Mon) Presentations and Discussions
1) Presentation for up-to-date research topics done by participating professors
1. Professor Kerry Mummery (Dean, KSR of the University of Alberta)
“Varsity and Recreational Club Sport in Canadian Universities – the University of Alberta Example”
Dean Mummery
2. Professor Dan Mason (KSR of the University of Alberta)
“Institutional logics, sporting events, and sports facility development projects”
Professor Mason
3. Associate Professor Elizabeth Halpenny (KSR of the University of Alberta)
“Optimizing tourism-conservation outcomes in Canada’s Rocky Mountains World Heritage Site: Sport tourism, special events, and outdoor recreation management”
Associate Professor Halpenny
4. Associate Professor Brian Soebbing (KSR of the University of Alberta)
“The impact of NFL Players’ anthem protests on sponsor stock prices”
Associate Professor Soebbimg
5. Professor Munehiko Harada (Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University)
“Development of sport tourism policy within the framework of public-private partnership”
6. Associate Professor Shintaro Sato (Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University)
“Sport events and well-being in host cities: A case of the Rugby World Cup 2019”
7. Associate Professor Eiji Ito (Faculty of Tourism, Wakayama University)
“Application of the affect valuation theory to tourist behaviors”
8. Associate Professor Daichi Oshimi (School of Physical Education, Tokai University)
“The social impact of sporting events”
Mr. Mirzaalian, Grand winner of Student Competition
2) Presentation for their own research topics done by participating graduate students
Six graduate students from both universities made a presentation and competed for the outstanding performance award.
The evaluation committee formed from both universities has decided to present grand winner to Mr. Fashid Mirzaalian (topic titled “Exploring Destination Loyalty: Application of Social Media Analytics in a Nature-based Tourism Setting”) at KSR of the University of Alberta and runner-up to Mr. Waku Ogiso at the Graduate School Sport Sciences, Waseda University (topic titled “Classifications of philanthropic activities conducted by elite athletes in Japan: A content analysis of newspapers”).
DAY-2: February 18 (Tue) “University Leaders’ Dialogue” for Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games
For the upcoming Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the discussion event “University Leaders’ Dialogue” was hold on the second day. While the participants paid an onsite visit to sport facilities located in Tokyo, in particular the Tokyo Bay Zone and the Heritage Zone in AM time, they attended the discussion and debate session at Waseda University in PM time. In the session, the discussion covered a wide range of research topics such as secondary usage of sport facilities originally constructed for the Olympic, worldwide conservation projects for post-gigantic sporting event, appropriate evaluation methodology for outcome from individual programs run by each relevant facilities, data collection implemented by the Olympic committee members and the researcher’s ideal contribution, and sustainable form of sponsorship to maintain and develop the Olympic. It has drawn a remarkable attention from the participating professors and students.
DAY-3: February 19 (Wed) Exchange of opinions for academic collaboration
Participants explored further research possibilities and deepened discussions for future academic collaboration throughout visiting facilities and laboratories at Higashi-fushimi campus by research group. Not only was research interaction enhanced reciprocally by topics, but cross discussion was also made in different research fields and multi-layered academic collaboration was materialized by means of the international symposium. Both universities ensured the mutual benefit on how future research outcome should be developed and accomplished.
Tokorozawa Administrative Office, Waseda University
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