Program Description

Graduate students interested in the fields of sport history, exercise history, and/or the study of sport and gender can pursue doctoral training within the Kinesiology and Health Education Department of the University of Texas at Austin through the creation of an Interdisciplinary Sport Studies Degree Program. An interdisciplinary degree program includes coursework from at least two [and generally three] academic departments. Courses and areas of study are chosen based on the student's research interests and proposed dissertation topic. Current interdisciplinary students at UT are using courses from History, American Studies, Women's Studies, Higher Ed. Administration, Exercise Science, and Sport Management in their degrees. A five member faculty committee [three must be from Kinesiology], chosen by the student, determines the student's program of work and administers comprehensive exams at the completion of the courses. The members of this ad-hoc committee may or may not be members of the student's dissertation committee.

The University of Texas offers unique resources for those interested in studying sport and exercise history. The Todd-McLean Physical Culture Collection [www.edb.utexas.edu/todd-mclean] is the largest and most complete archive in the field of physical culture in the world. The Center for American History, a part of the UT library system, contains the archives of the University Interscholastic League and the records of the women's physical education program at UT among other athletic resources. The holdings of the general libraries of the University of Texas are among the best in the world. In addition, there are a number of faculty members in diverse departments on the UT campus who are actively involved in studying sport, exercise, and body ideology.

For more information about an Interdisciplinary Sport Studies degree, contact Dr. Jan Todd at j.todd@mail.utexas.edu or phone her at 512-471-4890. For information about Dr. Todd and her research interests, visit: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/todd-mclean/jan's_homepage.htm. Additional biographical information about Dr. Todd is available at: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/todd-mclean/meet_the_staff.htm.

Faculty

Jan Todd, Ph.D.