Event description
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Montréal Olympic Games, the Université du Québec à Montréal, in partnership with the MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises, will be presenting 50 Years of Memories: The Legacy of the Stadium and the Montréal Olympic Games. This two-day conference will bring together researchers and professionals from the fields of art and culture, urban planning and sport, along with various Montréal personalities.
Consisting of six scientific panels and two round table discussions, the event explores the legacy of the 1976 Summer Olympics from all angles: collective memories, media coverage, urban impacts, sports heritage, and political and educational outcomes.
Wednesday, May 27
9:30 to 10:45 a.m.
Panel 1 – Memories, identities and representations
- Le succès des JO de 1976 et leur rentabilité : des secrets trop bien gardés
With Pierre Gince, journalist, author of Les J.O. de Montréal et nous : 50 ans, 50 regards - Les Jeux olympiques de Montréal dans la presse française
With Samy Mesli, Department of history, Université de Montréal - La vocation culturelle du Stade olympique
With Anouk Bélanger, Léa Desbiens and Ariane Lefebvre, Faculty of communication, UQAM
11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Panel 2 – Political, educational and symbolic outcomes of the sports movement
- La « diplomatie sportive coercitive » : l’arène olympique comme espace de contestation
With Maëlys Druilhe, Observatoire de géopolitique de la Chaire Raoul-Dandurand, UQAM - L’émancipation tranquille : les discours sur le sport dans le Québec francophone des années 1960-1970
With Sébastien Fyfe, Department of history, UQAM - La Révolution tranquille et la révolution sportive amateur au Québec : les JO de Montréal comme apogée (1960-1976)
With Michel Vigneault, Department of physical activity science, UQAM
2:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Panel 3 – Political, educational and symbolic outcomes of the sports movement
- Au-delà du béton et des dollars : l’éducation, la culture et la jeunesse au cœur des Jeux olympiques de Montréal
With Florent Lefèvre, Department of physical activity science, UQAM - L’héritage du Stade et des Jeux olympiques de Montréal pour le système olympique
With Jean-Loup Chappelet, Institut de hautes études en administration publique, Université de Lausanne - L’héritage gymnique des JO de Montréal et ses influences en France
With Jean Saint-Martin and Tony Froissart, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne
4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Round table discussion – The sports legacy of the 1976 Olympic Games
With the participation of Pierre Houde, sports commentator; Véronique Doucet, Executive Director, Parc Jean-Drapeau; and Joëlle Brodeur, President and Executive Director, Olympic Park
Thursday, May 28
9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
Panel 4 – The “model” of the 1976 Olympic Games and its facilities
- Méga-événements et ville : regards comparatifs sur les enjeux et impacts urbains des Jeux olympiques
With Anne-Marie Broudehoux, École de design, UQAM - Mémoire de la tour du Stade
With Dominique Trudel, Department of Communication, Culture and Languages, Audencia Business School - Montréal 1976, moment charnière : de l’apogée du modèle monumental à l’ère de l’héritage olympique
With Sylvain Leclerc, expert in the governance of mega sporting events and Olympic Movement observer
11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Panel 5 – Indirect legacies
- Se remémorer Cleveland Denny : une enquête nécropolitique de la mort du boxeur au Stade olympique (1980)
With Bachir Sirois‑Moumni and Myriam Moore, School of Social Communication, Saint Paul University; and Mac Ross, Centre for Sport, Business and Health, Saint Mary’s University - Coupe du monde d’athlétisme et marathon populaire de Montréal de 1979 : l’héritage en demi-teinte des Jeux de 1976
Serge Gaudreau, Department of history, Université de Sherbrooke, editor-in-chief of the sites Bilan Québec and Perspective monde
1:30 to 2:15 p.m.
- Le design graphique des JO de 1976 : une reconnaissance internationale
Conversation with Mark Choko, Centre de design, UQAM
2:30 to 4:00 p.m.
Panel 6 – The Olympic Games through a postcolonial lens
- Revisiting Montreal 1976: Colonial Logics, Indigenous Representation, and the Limits of Reconciliation
With Janice Forsyth, School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia - Situating Montreal 1976: The Olympic Games in an Era of Indigenous Resurgence
With Christine O’Bonsawin, Department of History, University of Victoria - Commodity Nationalism and Settler Colonialism in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games
With Estee Fresco, Department of Communication and Media Studies, York University
This panel will be in English.
4:30 to 5:45 p.m.
Round table discussion – Montrealers’ love-hate relationship with the Olympic Stadium
With the participation of Mario Robert, President, Société historique de Montréal; Taïka Baillargeon, Héritage Montréal; Johanne Burgess, Laboratoire d’histoire et de patrimoine, UQAM; and Guillaume Éthier, Urban and tourism studies, UQAM, and co-host of the podcast Cadre bâti
Closing remarks and cocktail
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