Conference Reviews Physical activity and sport participation by girls and women are receiving more wide-scale attention than ever before. In this issue of the WSPAJ, we are privileged to have reviews that offer us a global perspective on the reach and impact of our passions. The role of sport in the promotion of peace around the globe was the focus of an International Symposium held in . This symposium was reviewed by Gertrude Pfister. As the representative of the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women, Dr. Pfister provides us with unique insights into her experience at this historic event. Our second review, by sport histori- an Allen Guttmann, also has a global perspective. Dr. Guttmann focuses on how gender and sport were embraced at the 19th Annual International Congress of Historical Sciences. In addition, the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance recently held its annual convention in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 27-31. Girls’ and Women’s issues were well represented throughout all aspects of the conference. The National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS) spon- sored 40 sessions during the five-day event. The sessions addressed a variety of topics including teaching sport skills to girls, officiating women’s sports, minimizing violence and heterosexism in sport, and addressing gender equity. In this issue, a presentation by Dr. Lynda Ransdell titled “Promoting Physical Activity Among Girls and Women” is the subject of a review by University of Utah doctoral stu- dent Alison Taylor. The general session for the NAGWS was used as a platform to award Dr. Linda Carpenter, a well-respected expert on equity issues in sport, with the Rachel E. Bryant Memorial Lecture Award. Additionally, race car driver Lyn St. James was awarded the Guiding Woman in Sport Award. Both women provided eloquent. and insightful presentations on the future of women in sport and physical activity. The contributions to the WSPAJ in this edition allow us to see that issues pertaining to girls’ and women’s participation are being repre-

156 WSPAJ Vol 10, No. 1 Spring 2001 sented nationally as well as across the globe. I hope that you will enjoy reading these reviews and will gain a sense of appreciation and empowerment for the breadth and depth of discourse that is occurring.

Sincerely, Karen E. McConnell, Ph.D. Editor of Conference Reviews, WSPAJ Peace and Understanding Through Sport: An International Symposium in Ein Ged, Israel Reviewed by Gertrude Pfister

General questions as well as actual projects were discussed at the “First International Symposium on Peace and Understanding Through Sport”, which took place from 7th to 9th February in , a kib- butz on the shores of the in Israel. The initiative for holding such a meeting came from Manfred Lammer, Vice President of the European Fair Play Movement, who for many years has been active in organizing exchanges between German and Israeli sports people. He also succeeded in winning over Volkswagen AG as a sponsor. The symposium was organized by the Regional Council of the Dead Sea, which has held the yearly Ein Gedi Race for Peace for the last 19 years. The meeting was also supported by the Peres Center for Peace, an establishment founded on the initiative of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres. This organization has initiated the task of increasing co-operation among Israel and its Arab neighbours. The symposium was held under the auspices of the European Fair Play Movement. The timing of the seminar was ideal, perhaps because of the tense political situation, in which the threat to peace was felt and experi- enced with great intensity by everyone taking part, whether Israelis or foreign visitors. The location, too, could not have been chosen better. Ein Gedi, situated on the of the Dead Sea 400 metres below sea level, is a blooming garden in a at the foot of a range

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