Lecture by Professor Douglas Kass on "A Brand in Crisis: The Olympics in Film, TV, and the Media."

We are delighted to welcome Douglas Kass, a Fullbright visiting professor at Elon University's Department of Cinema and Television Arts, to give us a speech titled "A Brand in Crisis: The Olympics in Film, TV, and the Media" on March 31, in R210401, Da-Yong Building.

Professor Kass is a highly- qualified writer-director-producer who has professional expertise in directing, screenwriting, documentary filmmaking, and film history. His work has been featured on a variety of well-known platforms, including SHOWTIME, BBC, CBC, AL JAZEERA EUROPE, and others. During his visit, we are fortunate to have him instruct "Documentary: from Theory to Practice," and we are confident that the students will benefit greatly from Professor Kass and acquire fruitful knowledge.

Professor Kass elucidated the concept by providing practical cases.

In his address, he mostly discussed how the Olympics manages its own brand image throughout time in various nations, as well as the challenges and dilemmas the Olympics faces. Olympics can be framed with numerous symbolic meanings and used with diverse intentions depending on different social contexts. "The Olympics aren't as pure as they used to be, but then again, they never truly were." The collision of myth and reality has forced us to reconsider the true meaning of the Olympics. Later on, he analyzed how the tradition of the Olympic film contributes to or plays against the brand, as well as how television covers and tells stories about the Olympics. By illustrating the concept with practical case studies and historical backgrounds, students gain a better understanding of the subject. Also, different storylines adopted by multiple countries were elaborated on in the speech as well. In the end, Professor Kass concluded his speech with a powerful statement, “The problem with the Olympic Brand is: it must live up to a mythical standard that does not match a human standard,” which prompts us to think about the Olympics further.

Professor Kang and Professor Kass were having a great discussion.

A special thanks go to professor Ting-Yu Kang for hosting this event. Professors Li-Hsin Kuo, I-Huei Cheng, Robert Ru-Shou Chen, Jesse Chien-Chih Lu, Yi-Hsiu Chen, and Yi-Chieh Lin are also recognized for their participation and contributions to the lecture. IMICS is excited to host more and more presentations on a variety of themes and invites everyone to participate and learn together!

Attendees of the speech demonstrated their interest in the topic.

Author: Ruby Chien (IMICS 110)