Paralympic Session of the 17th International Symposium for Olympic and Paralympic Studies

The second day of the Symposium, held at the historic venue of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli,” proved to be highly productive and intellectually engaging.

Dr. Olesya Zaglada attended the Paralympic Session, which featured presentations by distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the world. The session was chaired by Prof. Giorgia Bevilacqua.

The programme included the following contributions:

• Ms. Lanfei Wang – Governing Paralympians: A Media Discourse Analysis of Disability and Gender in China
• Dr. Cathy McKay – Discussing the Experiences of Paralympians Who Have Participated in the IPC’s Paralympic School Day Program Through a Socio-Cultural Impact Lens
• Mr. Lorenzo Nespoli – The “Paralympic University Teams” Model (TUP) as a Framework for Olympic and Paralympic Education
• Prof. Giovanna Russo – Reframing Disability in the Paralympic Arena: Media Narratives and Edu-Communication in the Italian Context

The discussions explored Paralympic sport from multiple perspectives, including governance, media representation, education, socio-cultural impact, and national contexts.

Particularly noteworthy for the Paralympic Movement was the presentation by Ms. Alice Maria Gallian Augusto, Legal Counsel of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, titled Integrity as Sustainability: Reframing the Contractual Ethos in the Modern Olympic and Paralympic Movement.

The intensive academic programme concluded with a traditional Neapolitan pizza dinner, providing an opportunity for informal exchange and networking among participants.