Five instructors, a conference with global participation and publication of findings with the Capilano Courier
Laura Morales Padilla (she/her) // EIC
Visuals adapted from an original illustration by Alex Baidanuta (she/her) // Contributor
As announced during the April 7 Senate meeting, a section of the course “Special Topics in Tourism Management II” (TOUR 370) is being assembled in record time to monitor the impacts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. “What might be a tourist event on the surface, has deep social, political, and cultural consequences that call not just for an investigation but also a thoughtful and organized response and push-back,” stated Brian Ganter, one of the five faculty members teaching this mixed-mode course.
TOUR 370 will take place between April 27 and June 2, with an additional class on July 28, and in-person attendance to the FIFA Impacts Conference hosted by VOOR Urban Labs on April 29 at Simon Fraser University (SFU) Vancouver. The timing coincides with the 76th FIFA Congress, which will bring delegates from 211 FIFA member associations to the Vancouver Convention Centre on April 30.
In preparation for FIFA’s annual decision-making meeting, Irwin Oostindie—director of VOOR Urban Labs—hosted a series of five “Impacts Lab” events focused on “improving the City of Vancouver’s Sustainability and Human Rights Strategy for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” according to the event description. The outcomes of these sessions will be presented at the April 29 conference, which is open online to anyone who wishes to attend, with in-person spots reserved for students registered in the course, as well as community organizers, journalists, academics, non-governmental organizations, and government representatives.
The conference, which will set the tone for the rest of the course, is described by organizers as more than a passive gathering: “It is a call to action for everyone determined to ensure that FIFA leaves behind a legacy of justice, dignity, and lasting community benefit.” CapU students will monitor the impacts of hosting seven World Cup matches, with cost estimates “between $532 million and $624 million,” as reported by a June 2025 CBC article. Although, according to Oostindie, the cost is more likely closer to $1B in subsidy, considering the budget has nearly tripled for the PNE Amphitheatre set to host Vancouver’s FIFA World Cup festival—based on a Nov. 2025 Vancouver Sun article—and the additional security costs that are yet to be released.
Chris Carnovale, CapU instructor of the School of Tourism Management, is leading the organization of this course. He described TOUR 370 as a “shell course” used for unique and often experiential opportunities like the FIFA World Cup. “The last time we used it was Spring 2025 where it was adapted to the Thailand Field School,” he shared in an email exchange with the Courier on April 12.
A key part of organizing this course was contacting all faculty members and inviting them to express interest in teaching a section, as well as the topic they would like to focus on. As a result, the following interdisciplinary course content was co-developed:
- Mega-Events as Arenas of Contestation: The Functions Social Conflict Towards Justice (Jeff Wahl, PhD—Faculty of Global & Community Studies)
- Critical Masculinities/Critical Queerness: Looking at FIFA On and Off the Pitch (Brian Ganter—Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Humanities, Department of Women’s & Gender Studies)
- The Long Game: Environmental Impacts and Sustainability of Mega-Events (Alana Schick, PhD—Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Depts. of Biology, Computing and Data Science)
- Surveillance and Security at Mega-Events: The Case of FIFA World Cup 2026™ Vancouver (Sean Ashley, PhD—Faculty of Arts & Sciences, School of Social Sciences, Criminology, Sociology)
- From ‘Swiftonomics’ to FIFA: business impacts of mega events (Majid Raja—Faculty of Business & Professional Studies)
“The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a rare opportunity to revisit the FIFA ‘soccer industrial complex’ and the ‘cultural politics’ of soccer mega events,” shared Ganter in an email exchange with the Courier. Given that FIFA has inserted itself into politics, by “awarding fake peace awards to fake peacemakers,” as worded by Ganter, “it only makes sense that we have an opportunity to respond with thoughtful and scholarly political analysis of its impact,” they explained.
Lastly, at the end of the course, students will be invited to submit their findings and reflections on both FIFA and the course itself to the Capilano Courier. This work will then be published in a special edition of the C.C. Crumb—the Courier’s zine—to be distributed across the North Shore and the Lower Mainland, alongside community members’ contributions gathered in collaboration with VOOR Urban Labs.