2011 Winter Lectures: New Zealand's Rugby World

(Lectures)

19 July 2011 to 23 August 2011

1pm - 2pm

Venue: Maidment Theatre, 8 Alfred Street

Contact info: Everyone welcome. For further information please phone 373 7599 ext 87698

A series of six weekly lectures starting 19 July.

One of the world’s largest sporting events comes to New Zealand in September 2011 with the Rugby World Cup and much of the focus before and during the Cup will be on Auckland. Whether we love or hate rugby, it will be impossible to ignore the game during this period. As Harry Ricketts notes in The Awa Book of NZ Sports Writing, no other sport has the status of “unofficial religion” in New Zealand and no other sport has been so exhaustively agonised over by the people of New Zealand. This moment of intense popular focus on rugby provides us with a unique opportunity to critically engage with what is, grudgingly or otherwise, recognised to be our “national game”.

This Winter Lecture series draws from scholars both inside and outside The University of Auckland and from a number of different faculties. The selected speakers will offer a range of historical, cultural and social reflections on the place and future of rugby in New Zealand, exploring the way rugby has an impact on our lives as players, fans and indifferent bystanders; as women, Māori and Pacific Islanders; and, as leaders and professionals engaged in the game.

• Lecture 1, Tuesday 19 July
Dr Greg Ryan, Faculty of Environment, Society and Design, Lincoln University: Rugby and its place in New Zealand.
Chair: Professor Stuart McCutcheon, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Auckland.
Ranging from the try that wasn't against Wales in 1905 to the inquisition following the loss to France in November 1999 - perhaps the most calamitous New Zealand failure to win the Rugby World Cup - this lecture interrogates the blend of nostalgia, myth and jingoistic nationalism that has shaped a popular understanding of the history of New Zealand rugby and left a sometimes problematic legacy for its present.

• Lecture 2, Tuesday 26 July
Malcolm Mulholland, School of Māori Studies, Massey University: The pride of a people: The New Zealand Māori men’s rugby team.
Chair/Commentator: Julian Wilcox, broadcaster and presenter of Native Affairs, Māori Television.
This lecture will provide a brief summary of the history of the New Zealand Māori men’s rugby team and will argue that based on their past the team should continue to exist. In contemporary times some sectors of the public have argued that the team is racist and an example of apartheid yet, as the history will demonstrate, the team was for a period of time assembled to quieten the concerns of those who opposed sporting contact with South Africa. This juxtaposition looms large within the context of the history of the team and remains one of several fundamental reasons why the team should have a future.

• Lecture 3, Tuesday 2 August
Dr Jennifer Curtin, Department of Political Studies, The University of Auckland: More than a man’s game: Women and rugby in New Zealand.
Chair/Commentator: Melodie Robinson (Sky Sports rugby commentator and former Black Fern).
Is rugby union in New Zealand a man’s game? Intuitively, the answer is “yes”. Newspaper sport sections and television coverage focus primarily on male players and teams. Most coaches, administrators and commentators are men and the bestseller books on rugby are usually biographies or stories of great moments, teams and heroes – all of whom are men. And yet there are many women who are passionate supporters of the game at all levels, whether it is as spectators, fans, mothers of players or players themselves. Drawing from a range of primary materials, including interviews with women, this lecture documents the historical and contemporary dimensions of women’s engagement with rugby and reveals the significant part they have played in growing and sustaining rugby as our national game.

• Lecture 4, Tuesday 9 August
Professor Brad Jackson, Fletcher Building Education Trust Chair in Leadership, Business School, The University of Auckland: Learning the real leadership lessons from rugby in New Zealand.
Chair/Commentator: Dr Margot Edwards, Massey University Albany (former Black Sticks player).
The sporting world continues to provide a compelling tableaux from which prototypical notions of leadership are forged and learned at an early age and throughout adult life. In the New Zealand context, rugby, most notably the All Blacks, acts as the primary tutor and bellwether of the state of leadership in the nation in general for a still sizable portion of the populace. To what extent is this tendency progressive or regressive in developing the leadership capacity that is needed for this country to find its place in the world? What might be done to make it more constructive? Are the real leadership lessons being learned? These and other questions will be tackled by a British-Canadian rugby enthusiast who became an overnight "Kiwi" the first time he saw the All Blacks contest the Bledisloe Cup.

• Lecture 5, Tuesday 16 August
Tapua'i Fa'amalua Tipi, Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland: When the sun goes down: Learning to transition from a professional rugby career.
Chair/Commentator: Willie Lose, broadcaster and former Tongan rugby representative.
Since the introduction of professionalism into rugby in 1995, Māori and Pacific Island players have increasingly seen rugby as a career within a mainstream New Zealand context. For emerging professional rugby stars, the possibilities of success, money, travel and sponsorship can make the future beyond the sport seem a lifetime away. But whether it all comes crashing down through injury or game opportunities fade gradually, all professional rugby careers end. Some players wait until the eleventh hour and panic. That's when bad business or life choices can be made. It is important for players to prepare for the transition from professional rugby. Here, Tapua'i Fa'amalua Tipi shares findings from his research into how different professional rugby players plan for their lives after sport. Drawing from interviews with professional Pacific Island players who have retired in the past five years, the lecture will discuss what has helped or hindered transition to life after rugby and how players can be equipped for new careers. (This research has been undertaken with Dr Airini and Associate Professor Ben Dyson, Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland.)

• Lecture 6, Tuesday 23 August
Chris Laidlaw (Radio New Zealand National host, author and former All Black): The future of rugby.
Chair: Professor Stuart McCutcheon, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Auckland.
Discussant: Dr Farah Palmer, Massey University and former Black Fern.
In his book Somebody Stole my Game (2010), Chris Laidlaw argues that rugby union in New Zealand is in crisis. The arrival and then dominance of the market in the professional game has brought contradictory results, and it is not clear how the amateur game will survive. One year on from publishing his critique, and less than one month before the 2011 Rugby World Cup kicks off, Laidlaw reflects on his ten-point plan to save rugby union in and for New Zealand.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Winter Lectures 2010: The end(s) of journalism.

You can read the full text of the lectures below on the New Zealand Herald online:
Lecture 1, Tuesday 20 July: The beginning and ends of journalism.
Lecture 2, Tuesday 27 July: Watching the watchdogs.
Lecture 3, Tuesday 3 August: A question of balance.
Lecture 4, Tuesday 10 August: Citizens as gatekeepers.
Lecture 5, Tuesday 17 August: Politics as comedy.
Lecture 6, Tuesday 24 August: Paying the piper.

Please note: Clicking on the links below will automatically open the audio files:
Lecture 1, Tuesday 20 July: The beginning and ends of journalism.
Lecture 2, Tuesday 27 July: Watching the watchdogs.
Lecture 3, Tuesday 3 August: A question of balance.
Lecture 4, Tuesday 10 August: Citizens as gatekeepers.
Lecture 5, Tuesday 17 August: Politics as comedy.
Lecture 6, Tuesday 24 August: Paying the piper.

Winter Lectures 2011: New Zealand’s Rugby World.

Please note: Clicking on the links below will automatically open the audio files:
Lecture 1, Tuesday 19 July: Rugby and its place in New Zealand.
Lecture 2: Tuesday 26 July: The pride of a people: The New Zealand Māori men’s rugby team.
Lecture 3: Tuesday 2 August: More than a man’s game: Women and rugby in New Zealand.
Lecture 4: Tuesday 9 August: Learning the real leadership lessons from rugby in New Zealand.
Lecture 5: Tuesday 16 August: When the sun goes down: Learning to transition from a professional rugby career.
Lecture 6: Tuesday 23 August: The future of rugby.

You can read the text of the lectures by clicking on the pdf below: