Running with the ball? Making a play for sport heritage archives in Higher Education contexts

Bibliographic Data

ID5700669
AuthorsGeoffery Z Kohe (0000-0001-6683-6669, University of Worcester, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume24
Issue3
Pages256-269
Publication date2018-03-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Heritage Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1352-7258 • E-ISSN: 1470-3610
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13527258.2017.1378910
OpenAlexW2761340781
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited46

For considerable time, academia (in particular, the Humanities) has been in an intellectual, economic and pragmatic par des deux with the culture and arts sector (in this case, heritage, museums and archives). In many ways, given their respective pursuits of scientific enquiry and learning, valuable contribution to a knowledge economy, commitment to public enlightenment, and exploration of critical and creative endeavour, a relationship between the sectors makes sense. Unity notwithstanding, the relationships have become increasingly now influenced by (en)forced contextual constraints (e.g. government policy development and intervention, neoliberal market forces, structural and ideological shifts in funding acquisition and allocation, patronage changes and demands, and/or individual political priorities). Drawing on education and heritage scholarship, and theoretical frameworks of sport culture spaces, this paper examines efforts undertaken at one specific Higher Education establishment in the United Kingdom in which institutional agendas (vis-à-vis historical and cultural foci, encouraging ‘impactful’ academic activity, brand exposure, economic efficiency, and community engagement) have contoured, and become entwined with, an embryonic sport heritage and archive project. Recalling similar arrangements elsewhere, the aim of this case study is to explore how the wider education and cultural policy context have precipitated an increasingly symbiotic and dependent relationship between university and cultural/arts initiatives. The paper considers how the impetus to develop a sports-based (basketball) heritage archive and study centre reflects the current fragilities of the two sectors, yet, concomitantly, reveals the potentials that might be developed from fostering greater intellectual and pragmatic alliances. The paper concludes by advocating the practical, political and ideological usefulness of network formation, sustainability measures and continued cross-sector dialogue

Cultural heritage · Cultural policy · Enlightenment · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Scholarship · Sociology · The arts · Archaeological Research and Protection · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Law · Public Administration · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

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