Return to: Department of Kinesiology and Health
Concentration Areas: Biomechanics and Physical Rehabilitation, Exercise Physiology, Physical Education Teacher Education, Psychology of Physical Activity, Rehabilitation Science, Sport Administration
The Ph.D. major in Kinesiology is designed to prepare students for research and teaching careers at colleges and universities and for health, physiological performance, rehabilitative science, and related fields.
Concentration areas that are available within this program: Biomechanics and Physical Rehabilitation, Exercise Physiology, Exercise Psychology, Physical Education Teacher Education, Rehabilitation Science, and Sport Administration.
The concentration in Biomechanics and Physical Rehabilitation focuses on the scientific description of human movement through advanced techniques utilizing computerized film and high speed video graphical analysis systems, computerized force measuring systems, electromyography, and other state-of-the-art instrumentation with applications in many disciplines, including ergonomics, engineering, medicine, sport, and exercise.
The concentration in Exercise Physiology prepares students to teach and to conduct research in areas related to cardiopulmonary and neuromuscular physiology with particular emphases on exercise metabolism and performance in healthy populations, and in populations with chronic diseases (e.g., cardiovascular, metabolic, and neuromuscular diseases).
The concentration in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) prepares students who have a Master’s degree in health and physical education and initial teaching certification in that subject area for careers in higher education as scholars, researchers, and teacher educators. Research expertise will be acquired in the areas of instruction, curriculum, assessment, teacher education, and teacher development. The cognate area will prepare students as members of communities of scholars in higher education.
The concentration in Psychology of Physical Activity prepares students to teach and to conduct research in areas related to the correlates of physical activity, mental health benefits of physical activity, theory-based behavior change strategies, and the design, implementation, and testing of theory-based physical activity interventions. Completion of this concentration will not lead to students becoming licensed psychologists.
The concentration in Rehabilitation Science is open to students currently enrolled in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program in the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions. The program is designed to augment the existing DPT program to prepare physical therapists to teach and conduct research in areas related to physical rehabilitation, biomechanics, and physiology.
The concentration in Sport Administration prepares students to teach and conduct research in areas related to sport administration, including sport management, marketing, finance, law, or communication.