20th Annual Macintosh Sociology of Sport Day Conference

Trials and Triumphs: Historical Studies of Sport Through the Lens of the Black Canadian Athlete

Dr. Ornella Nzindukiyimana 

2024 Macintosh Sociology of Sport Day Conference

This year’s speaker is Dr. Ornella Nzindukiyimana, an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Kinetics at St. Francis Xavier University where she primarily teaches the historical foundations of sport and physical culture in Canada. She is a social historian with a background in Human Kinetics and earned a PhD in socio-cultural studies of sport from Western University. Dr. Nzindukiyimana studies 20th century and early 21st century contexts, focusing on how nationalism, colonialism, multiculturalism, immigration, along with the intersection of race, gender, class and other social categorizations have shaped Black peoples’ practices and experiences in what is currently Canada. Her socio-historical studies span sporting accounts of girls and women in Southern Ontario in the early 20th century to the contextualization of the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 National Basketball Association championship run. She has documented obscured histories in boxing, track and field, swimming, and baseball. She is developing more histories in those spaces and exploring surfing, basketball, and hockey, with particular interest in individuals and groups who challenged colonial, White supremacist, patriarchal, and capitalist forces in sport, who expanded what could be, and who inform a template for reimagining sport’s structure. Her keynote lecture for the conference is titled, “Trial and Triumphs: Historical Studies of Sport through the lens of the Black Canadian Athlete.” Advanced registration is required for both those wishing to attend online and those attending in person. Please register by January 15th, 2024.