Welcome to the Department of Kinesiology

The Department of Kinesiology has as its mission the preparation of educators, researchers, and citizens who are professionally and academically prepared and are dedicated to addressing the physical activity needs of our society in school, community, work-site, health, medical, or athletic environments. In this regard, the Department of Kinesiology is committed to diverse cultural, educational, scientific, and cross-disciplinary approaches that emphasize the total person. One vital aspect of these efforts is to understand and educate our students and the public in the science and benefits of human movement.

We support a broad multi-disciplinary, technologically sophisticated, integrative perspective that identifies exercise, sport, and skill acquisition as critical factors in preparing children and adults to become healthy, knowledgeable, culturally sensitive, and valued members of society. The Department uses the same multi-disciplinary and integrative approach to address the physical activity issues of an aging, and many times, under-served adult population, emphasizing the role of behaviors in the quality of education, quality of life and prevention of illness.

The relationships between physical activity in human beings and various sciences are emphasized. Students will gain an understanding of the development, interpretation, application, and dissemination of knowledge that relates physical activity to human well-being. The two Kinesiology majors place an emphasis on the attainment of disciplinary knowledge in the anatomical, biomechanical, developmental, physiological, and sociological aspects of physical activity, explore how physical activity relates to human well-being, and offer a choice of an area of emphasis in physical education and exercise and sport science.