Dr Heather Dichter

Job: Associate Professor

Faculty: Arts, Design and Humanities

School/department: School of Humanities

Address: Clephan Building, De Montfort University

T: +44 (0)116 201 3907

E: heather.dichter@dmu.ac.uk

W: dmu.ac.uk

 

Personal profile

Dr. Heather Dichter is a specialist in sport history, with a focus on diplomacy and twentieth century Europe.  She studied history at the University of Michigan (B.A.) and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (M.A.) before her doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2008.

Her publications focus on sport and diplomacy, particularly involving the postwar occupation of Germany and during the Cold War.

Publications and outputs

Books

Heather L. Dichter and Molly Wilkinson Johnson, eds. Berlin Sports: Spectacle, Recreation, and Media in Germany’s Metropolis (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2024).

Heather L. Dichter and Sarah Teetzel, eds., The Olympic Winter Games at 100: Challenges, Complexities, and Legacies (London: Routledge, 2024).

Heather L. Dichter, Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2021).
*winner, British Society of Sports History Lord Aberdare Literary Prize (2002)

Heather L. Dichter, ed., Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football Since 1914 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2020).

Heather L. Dichter and Andrew Johns, eds. Diplomatic Games: Sport, Statecraft and International Relations since 1945 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2014).

Heather L. Dichter and Bruce Kidd, eds. Olympic Reform Ten Years Later (London: Routledge, 2012).
*originally published as special issue of Sport in Society (v. 14, no. 3)

Book Chapters

Heather L. Dichter, "“United Sport in Divided Berlin: Diplomatic Negotiations for the 1964 All-German Olympic Team Trials,” in Berlin Sports: Spectacle, Recreation, and Media in Germany’s Metropolis, ed. Heather L. Dichter and Molly Wilkinson Johnson (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2024).

Heather L. Dichter, “’Football more important than Berlin’: East German Football vs. NATO,” in Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football Since 1914, ed. Heather L. Dichter (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2020).

Heather L. Dichter, “’A game of political ice hockey’: NATO Restrictions on East German Sport Travel in the Aftermath of the Berlin Wall,” in Diplomatic Games: Sport, Statecraft and International Relations since 1945, ed. Heather Dichter and Andrew Johns. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2014).

Heather L. Dichter, “Game Plan for Democracy: Sport and Youth in Occupied West Germany,” in Transforming Occupation in the Western Zones of Germany: Politics, Everyday Life and Social Interactions, 1945-55, ed. Camilo Erlichman and Christopher Knowles (London: Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2018).

Heather L. Dichter, “Denazification, Democratization, and the Cold War: Diplomatic Manipulation of the German Olympic Committee,” in Defending the American Way of Life, ed. Kevin Witherspoon and Toby Rider (Little Rock: University of Arkansas Press, 2018).

Heather L. Dichter, “Rebuilding Physical Education in the Western Occupation Zones of Germany, 1945-1949,” in Sport, Health and the Body in the History of Education, ed. Mark Freeman (London: Routledge, 2014).

Heather L. Dichter, “Afterword: The State of Presidential Sport,” in Sports and the American Presidency: From Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump, ed. Adam Burns and Rivers Gambrell (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022), 300-314.

Heather L. Dichter, “Sport and Politics,” in Routledge Handbook of Sport History, ed. Murray Phillips, Douglas Booth, and Carly Adams (London: Routledge, 2021), 136-143.

Heather L. Dichter, “Olympic Games Bids,” Handbook of International Sport Business, ed. Mark Dodds, Kevin Heisey, and Aila Ahonen (London: Routledge, 2017), 54-64.

Journal Articles

Heather L. Dichter, “The Diplomatic Campaign Against the Short-Lived 1968 Berlin Olympic Bid,” Contemporary European History 33, no. 2 (2024): 514-528.

Heather L. Dichter, “Canadian Government Involvement in Calgary’s 1968 Winter Olympic Bid,” International Journal of the History of Sport 38, no. 13-14 (2021): 1329-1349.

Heather L. Dichter, “The Diplomatic Turn: The New Relationship Between Sport and Politics,” International Journal of the History of Sport 38, no. 2-3 (2021): 247-263.

Heather L. Dichter and Sarah Teetzel, “The Winter Olympics: A Century of Games on Ice and Snow,” International Journal of the History of Sport 37, no. 13 (2020): 1215-1235.

Lindsey Blom, Paz Magat, and Heather L. Dichter, “Grassroots Diplomacy through Coach Education: Americans & Jordanians and Tajiks,” Soccer & Society 21, no. 5 (2019): 535-550.

Heather L. Dichter, “‘We have allowed our decisions to be determined by political considerations’: The Cold War German Question in the International Ski Federation,” Sport in History 37, no. 3 (2017): 290-308.

Heather L. Dichter, “Corruption in the 1960s?: Rethinking the Origins of Unethical Olympic Bidding Tactics,” International Journal of the History of Sport 33, no. 6-7 (2016): 666-682.

Heather L. Dichter, “Sporting Relations: Diplomacy, Small States, and Germany’s Postwar Return to International Sport,” Diplomacy & Statecraft 27, no. 2 (2016): 340-359.

Heather L. Dichter, “Diplomatic and International History: Athletes and Ambassadors,” International Journal of the History of Sport 32, no. 15 (2015): 1741-1744.

Heather L. Dichter, “Kicking Around International Sport: West Germany’s Return to the International Community through Football,” International Journal of the History of Sport 30, no. 17 (2013): 2031-2051.

Heather L. Dichter, “Rebuilding Physical Education in the Western Occupation Zones of Germany, 1945-1949,” History of Education, 41, no. 6 (Nov. 2012): 787-806.

Heather L. Dichter, “State of the Field: Sport history and diplomatic history,” H-Diplo (Dec. 2014), http://h-diplo.org/essays/PDF/E122.pdf

Special Journal Issues

Heather L. Dichter and Sarah Teetzel, eds., International Journal of the History of Sport: “Olympic Winter Games: Bidding, Hosting, and Legacy,” 38, no. 13-14 (2021).

Heather L. Dichter and Sarah Teetzel, eds., International Journal of the History of Sport: “Olympic Winter Games” 37, no. 13 (2020).

J. Simon Rofe and Heather L. Dichter, eds., Diplomacy & Statecraft: “Sport and Diplomacy: Message, Mode, and Metaphor?” 27, no. 2 (2016).

Research interests/expertise

Olympic Games

International Sport

Diplomacy and International Relations

Germany

Europe

NATO

Dr. Heather Dichter is able to supervise MA and PhD projects on several areas of sport history, particular international sport, mega-events, the Olympic movement, sport and diplomacy, sport and politics, and sport media.

Qualifications

BA, University of Michigan (History)

MA, University of North Carolina (History)

PhD, University of Toronto (History)  - 2008

Courses taught

  • International MA in management, Law and Humanities of Sport
  • Sport Heritage (Sport Management MSc)
  • Sport Politics and Policy (Sports History and Culture MA)

Honours and awards

International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES) Award, 2019

Heather L. Dichter, ed., Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football Since 1914 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2020).
*finalist, North American Society for Sport History Anthology Award (2021)
*shortlisted finalist, Telegraph Sports Book Awards, Football Book of the Year (2021)

Heather L. Dichter, Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2021).
*winner, British Society of Sports History Lord Aberdare Literary Prize (2002)

Membership of external committees

North American Society for Sport History (NASSH)
--Council member (2024-present)
--Book Award Committee (2021-2023)
--Chair, Dissertation Prize Committee (2019 – 2021)
--Chair, Dissertation Prize ad hoc committee (2019-2020)
--Ad-hoc Marketing Policy and Promotion Committee (2017 – 2020)

Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
--Member, Michael J. Hogan Foreign Language Fellowship Committee (2023 – present)

International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES) Council member, 2009-2021

The Hockey Museum Trustee (2022 – present)

British University and College Sport (BUCS) Research and Insight Group
--Lead, Archives and History (2019 – present)

Women’s Sport Leadership Academic High Performance Coach International Advisory Group (2021)

Membership of professional associations and societies

British Society for Sports History

German History Society

International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES)

North American Society for Sport History

Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations

Conference attendance

INVITED TALKS

“Public Diplomacy Gone Wrong: When Hosting Sport Mega-Events Backfires,” Lord Aberdare Keynote, British Society of Sports History, Manchester (August 2023).

Roundtable Panel Member, “Que sait-on aujourd’hui de la Guerre froide sportive?” Ce que la Guerre froide a fait au sport mondial, Nantes, France (March 2023).

“How Beijing Won the 2022 Winter Olympics,” Foreign Correspondents Club of China, Beijing [online] (January 2022).

“The Berlin Wall & the End of Free Travel in International Sport,” Institute of Historical Research, Sport History and Leisure Seminar and Modern German History Seminar, London [online] (December 2021).

“NATO, the Cold War and the bidding for the 1968 Olympics,” Nuneaton Historical Association, Nuneaton (October 2021).

“Finding Olympic History in Non-Sport Archives,” British Library, London [online] (June 2020).

“The 1968 Olympics... in Divided Berlin?” Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Temple University (November 2019).

ISHPES Award Keynote, “A New Sport and Politics: The Close Relationship Between International Sport Leaders and Diplomats,” International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport, Madrid, Spain (2019).

CONFERENCE PAPERS

“Innsbruck to the Rescue: Media Response to Innsbruck Taking the 1976 Winter Olympics,” British Society for Sports History, Chichester, UK (2024)

“Winning the 1968 Winter Olympics: Conflict Among NATO Allies,” 100th Anniversary of the Olympic Winter Games 1924-2024, Lausanne, Switzerland (2024)

“No Flags and Anthems: Rowing’s World Championship Policy,” Rethinking Internationalism through Sport: Beyond the Olympic Games, Durham University [online], (2021)

“‘Losers Wonder: Why Grenoble?’: The Race for the 1968 Winter Olympic Games,” British Society for Sports History, Liverpool, UK (2019)

“Doesn’t She Know NATO’s a Military Alliance? Unexpected Research among NATO Records,” Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Arlington, VA (2019)

“Divided Berlin as Olympic Host? NATO Efforts to Suppress Berlin’s 1968 Olympic Bid,” German History Society, Leicester, UK (2018)

“Ski Jumping in the Cold War: Helmut Recknagel and the Holmenkollen,” International Society for the History of Physical Education & Sport, Münster, Germany (2018)

“Canadian Speculation: Back-Up Host for the 1962 IIHF World Championships or NATO Ally?” North American Society for Sport History, Winnipeg, MB (2018)

“Not Quite the Sweetest Place on Earth: International Sport in Hershey,” North American Society for Sport History, Fullerton,
CA (2017)

“Game Plan for Democracy: Public Diplomacy Programs for Sport and Youth in Occupied Germany,” The Allied Occupation of Germany Revisited: New Research on the Western Zones of Occupation, 1945-1949, German Historical Institute, London, England (2016)

“The Short-Lived German Olympic Bid: Political and Media Responses to Berlin’s 1968 Olympic Bid,” International Society for the History of Physical Education & Sport, Paris (2016)

“‘Swiss dove of peace’: Swiss Support to German Football, 1945-1950,” Journee Suisse d’Histoire, Lausanne, Switzerland (2016)

“Sport Is Not So Separate From Politics: IOC Member Correspondence with Foreign Ministries,” International Society for the History of Physical Education & Sport, Split, Croatia (2015)

 “Gracious Hosts in the Land of the Tulips”: Dutch Football and NATO during the Cold War,” North American Society for Sport History, Coral Gables, FL (2015)

“Olympic Bribery: Rethinking the Origins of Illegal Bidding Tactics,” International Society for the History of Physical Education & Sport, Doha, Qatar (2014)

“Wha’ Happened?”: News Coverage of Lake Placid’s Failed 1968 Olympic Bid,” North American Society for Sport History, Glenwood Springs, CO (2014)

“Supporting Detroit: The State Department’s Role in the NATO Working Group on the 1968 Olympic Games,” Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Arlington, VA (2013)

“’A Symbolic Day of German Sport’: The Impact of the Media Coverage of the 1948 German-Swiss Intercity Soccer Games,” North American Society for Sport History, Halifax, NS (2013)

“Allied Reconstruction of Physical Education in Occupied Germany, 1945-1949,” History of Education Society, Glasgow, Scotland (2011)

“Norwegian Debates on German Participation in the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics,” German Studies Association, Louisville, KY (2011)

“Turnen in Occupied Germany and the Re-Founding of the Deutscher Turner Bund, 1949-50,” International Society for the History of Physical Education & Sport, Frankfurt, Germany (2011)

Current research students

Emmy Sale, Dressed for the Field: Gender, Bodies, and Society through the Material Culture of Field Hockey, 1880 to the present (Midlands 4 Cities Collaborative Doctoral Programme)

Mike Dougherty, British – Soviet Chess Relations 1941-1956

Enrico Castro Montes, Balón y Bandera: Football and nationalism in Ecuador 1920s-2000s (KU Leuven, FWO - Research Foundation Flanders)

Completed PhD Students
Katie Taylor, ‘Invaded by Daughters of Eve’: Women Playing American Football, 1890-1960 (2021)

Lydia Furse, Women in Rugby Union: A Social and Cultural History, 1880-2016 (AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Programme) (2021)

Robert Fitt, Neolympics: Race, Nation, and Neoliberal Culture at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (University of Birmingham, Midlands 4 Cities) (2023)

Externally funded research grants information

British Academy International Writing Workshop (2023)  - Expanding the History of Sport, Leisure, Health, and the Body in Africa
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/projects/expanding-the-history-of-sport-leisure-health-and-the-body-in-africa/

Washington Post Made By History Columns

“A boycott of the Olympics won’t force China to change,” Washington Post, December 8, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/12/08/olympic-boycott/.

with John Kinder, "The deep ties between the Paralympics and the U.S. military — and what they mean," August 29, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/08/29/deep-ties-between-paralympics-us-military-what-they-mean/

with Kari Brossard Stoos, “Will coronavirus cancel the Olympics and other big sporting events?” Washington Post, March 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/05/will-coronavirus-cancel-olympics-other-big-sporting-events/

“The Russian flag won’t appear at the Olympics. Here’s why that matters,” Washington Post, February 8, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/02/08/the-russian-flag-wont-appear-at-the-olympics-heres-why-that-matters

“The limits of sports diplomacy as a solution to the Korean crisis,” Washington Post, January 22, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2018/01/22/the-limits-of-sports-diplomacy-as-a-solution-to-the-korean-crisis

“How Los Angeles can save the Olympic Games — again,” Washington Post, August 3, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/08/03/how-los-angeles-can-save-the-olympic-games-again/

Photo of Heather Dichter