Syracuse

The Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) is pleased to present to you the Olympic Knowledge - Essential Readings Series, the aim of which is to introduce the main Olympic topics and make them easily accessible, and to explain the history, development and social aspects of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement.
The collection is built around four main themes and consists of 32 articles by academic experts from various backgrounds, representing a number of branches of human and social sciences.
Through their expertise, the authors offer us a critical look at the Olympic Movement, created 130 years ago and which has constantly evolved and reinvented itself to address the expectations and challenges imposed by contemporary society.

The Olympic Knowledge - Essential Readings Series is divided into four parts: 

You can find here the foreword to the series by our editorial committee consisting of the following three members:
- Prof. Cesar R. Torres (ARG/USA), editor, SUNY Brockport (USA)
- Prof. Tracy Taylor (AUS), associate editor, RMIT University (AUS)
- Prof. Stephan Wassong (GER), associate editor, German Sport University Cologne (GER)

Please note that these articles are an independent source of information, and are not official publications of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The views and opinions they express are therefore those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of the IOC or the OSC. The IOC and OSC decline all responsibility for the information and/or content in these articles with regard to accuracy or completeness. None of the articles may be reproduced without prior authorisation from the OSC. 

We hope that you will enjoy reading these articles, and that they will make you eager to learn more about these varied, exciting and complex subjects. Ideas for further reading are listed at the end of each article, to enable you to take a closer look at the topic in question.