About Us
Recognizing that physical activity is vital for all people, the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Georgia State University seeks to:
- Discover new knowledge and advance the understanding of the role of physical activity in attaining optimal health and well-being
- Educate members of society and prepare future professionals
- Promote healthy lifestyles through life-long activity and learning
The department serves over 1000 graduate and undergraduate students annually and has a reputation for excellent teaching with a diverse student body. The department supports state-of-the-art research and teaching laboratories in applied physiology, muscle biology, musculoskeletal injury, biomechanics and ergonomics, sport business and physical education pedagogy. In addition, many faculty are influential members of their respective national and international organizations.
Students interested in careers in public school teaching should refer to the programs in health and physical education. If you are interested in a career in fitness, wellness or cardiac rehabilitation refer to the programs in exercise science. Students interested in a career in the sports industry should refer to the sports administration program.
Doctoral programs are available for future students who already hold a master’s degree or equivalent and are interested in advanced training for teaching and research in sport science, physical education teacher education, or sport administration.
Explore Our Department
NOTE FROM THE CHAIR
In my last chair’s message, I stated that 2020 was different from other years in that we experienced numerous new challenges in the Department of Kinesiology and Health due to the coronavirus pandemic, social disturbances related to ethnic and racial injustice, and changes that would result from the U.S. presidential election. Our committed faculty chose to use the challenges as opportunities rather than become discouraged. They became better teachers as they concentrated on understanding students’ concerns and needs. Faculty were not able to continue many lab activities due to social distancing requirements, but they discovered ways to remain scholarly productive. The university and department objectives are to return to the pre-COVID-19 schedule for Fall 2021, which means more of our classes will be face-to-face.
Our faculty continue to show progress in their scholarship and teaching. The sport administration faculty hosted Roundtable Series sessions on racial justice in college athletics and women in sport that both featured program alumni. Professor Deborah Shapiro participated in a podcast on choosing and navigating the Ph.D. process and mentoring doctoral students. Associate professor Tim Kellison and colleagues published a paper entitled, “Global Perspectives on Democracy and Public Stadium Finance,” which was published in the Journal of Global Sport Management. He and colleagues led a presentation entitled, “Stakeholder Perspectives: Environmental Initiatives in Sport” at the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand’s November 2020 meeting.
I would be remiss if I did not share our department’s appreciation for Ms. Candiss Addison, our business manager, and our administrative staff who support our faculty and have contributed astronomically during the pandemic. Their efforts moving their work environment from the office to working remotely with limited notice was instrumental in enabling faculty to remain productive last March. Tasks such as technology equipment orders and support, payroll, budgets, scheduling, supply ordering, reimbursement requests, mail and yes, even reporting to the office on a rotational basis, were all completed seamlessly. The administrative team identified areas where changes could be implemented that would save on expenses, be eco-friendly and sustainable. The virtual working environment taught them to support each other, to be cooperative, to be present and to be accountable. If these actions are sustained, success will follow.
In our department, we believe “if you set your goals ridiculously high and do not achieve them, you will fail above most everyone else’s success” (James Cameron). We as educators are in the business of developing young individuals to be good citizens. Our students are very important to us and we try to help them grow in ways that will help them later in life. We also believe it’s “better to fall short being who you are than to appear to succeed imitating or copying others.”
We appreciate our alumni, and we ask for your continued support as we go through this pandemic crisis. In addition, thanks to clinical instructor Courtney Strosnider for her excellent work with our newsletter.
Sincerely,
Jerry Brandon, Ph.D., FACSM
Professor and Chair