Current & Prospective Student Resources
Curriculum Overview
The aim of the graduate program in Physical Cultural Studies is to produce the next generation of scholars whose work extends the intellectual project, and indeed boundaries, of PCS. Thus, we seek to provide students with exposure to a curriculum whose empirical relevance, theoretical sophistication, and methodological rigor encourages them to develop as truly independent and impactful PCS researchers.
Rather than a rigid–and arguably restrictive–core of mandatory courses, we instead offer a purposefully flexible “content” core constituted by a fluid array of courses; the courses offered being dependent on the developmental level of the PCS student body, and the contingencies of the broader (physical) cultural context. So, whether M.A. or Ph.D. candidates, within their coursework, students will be exposed to (and be expected to be knowledgeable and proficient within) what are considered to be the key content areas within PCS:
Empirical Focus
PCS is focused on the critical theorizing of the various empirical domains that comprise the broader field of physical culture. Therefore, in addition to the specificities of one’s research focus, it is important to develop a comprehensive empirical understanding of physical culture.
Theoretical Framework
PCS requires a broad and complex theoretical vocabulary, anchored primarily within classical and contemporary theories of society, culture, the body, and the various dimensions of physical activity.
Method and Design
PCS is primarily anchored within the methodological, ontological, and axiological assumptions of qualitative social and cultural inquiry. As such, it is fully expected that PCS advocates will become informed exponents of related research methods, including: contextual analysis; social and cultural history; discourse analysis; ethnography; participant observation; and, personal narrative.
Axiological Standpoint
PCS is an intellectual project keenly interested in examining the operation of power and power relations, within and through the complex realm of physical culture. As such, PCS researchers are motivated by, and need to make explicit, the ethical-political values that drive their research interests.
PCS’s Key Content Areas
Clearly, all of these content areas cannot be covered in any single course. In fact, it is fully expected that there will be a degree of crossover, and accumulated learning, across PCS course offerings, and beyond (see course offerings below). Moreover, in utilizing this flexible approach, students (in consultation with their advisors) are afforded to the opportunity to develop programs of coursework specific to their individual intellectual needs and research foci.
Course Offerings
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KNES 630 Sociology of Sport (3 credits)
KNES 685 Sport and Globalization (3 credits)
KNES 689B Physical Cultural Studies: Research & Writing Seminar (3 credits)
KNES 698E Gender and Sport (3 credits)
KNES 689K Research Design: Physical Cultural Studies (3 credits)
KNES 689P Physical Cultural Studies: Culture/Hegemony/Articulation (3 credits)
KNES 689Q Sport and the Civil Rights Movement (3 credits)
KNES 689V Gender & Sport (3 credits)
KNES 689Y The Body, Culture, & Physical Activity (3 credits)
KNES 689 Sport and Race Relations (3 credits)
KNES 689 Basketball and Black Masculinity (3 credits)
KNES 689 History of Sport and Physical Culture (3 credits)
KNES 689 Sporting Hollywood (3 credits)
KNES 689 Sport and Globalization (3 credits)
KNES 698A Sport and Culture in the Global Marketplace (3 credits)
KNES 789E Theories of Physical Cultural Studies (3 credits)
KNES 789 Feminist Physical Cultural Studies (3 credits)
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KNES 610 (3 credits)
KNES Ethics (3 credits)
KNES 620 Teaching Kinesiology to Undergraduates (3 credits)
KNES 711 Professional Development and Grantsmanship (3 credits)
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American Studies:
AMST 628 Marginality and Popular Culture
AMST 629V Film and Los Angeles
AMST 628Q Material Culture Theory
Family Studies:
FMST 600 Family Theories
FMSC780 Qualitative Research Methods
Journalism:
JOUR770 Research Methods (Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed)
Sociology:
SOCY621 Contemporary Sociological Theory
SOCY699F Theorizing Spaces and Places
SOCY729A Globalization Theory
SOCY644 Gender, Work, and Family
SOCY645 Sociology of Self Concept
Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies:
WMST 601 Feminist Theories I
WMST 602 Feminist Theories II
WMST698B Gender, Globalization, and Transnational Feminism
Student Resources
PhD Student Resources
Comprehensive Examination Guidelines
Dissertation Proposal Guidelines
Human Subjects Approval