This is an archived copy of the 2014-16 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.utexas.edu/.

Kinesiology and Health Behavior and Health Education

Master of Education
Master of Science in Health Behavior and Health Education
Master of Science in Kinesiology
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Education

For More Information

Campus address: L. Theo Bellmont Hall (BEL) 222, phone (512) 471-1273, fax (512) 471-8914; campus mail code: D3700

Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Graduate Program, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, 1 University Station D3700, Austin TX 78712

E-mail: khegradinfo@austin.utexas.edu

URL: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/education/departments/khe/

Facilities for Graduate Work

Excellent teaching and research laboratories are available to graduate students in kinesiology and health education. Special classrooms and computer facilities are available, as well as teaching laboratories for human anatomy, biomechanics, exercise physiology, exercise and sport psychology, motor control and learning, physical development and aging, childrens' movement, and athletic training. Research laboratories are available for both basic and applied research with whole-body and subcellular investigations. Also available for field research are various schools, institutions, and agencies in Austin and surrounding communities.

Areas of Study

Most students major in either health behavior and health education or kinesiology. Students may also pursue a general program, leading to the Master of Education, that allows for specialization in either health behavior and health education or kinesiology but includes coursework in both areas.

Health Behavior and Health Education

The programs leading to the Master of Science in Health Behavior and Health Education or the Doctor of Philosophy with a major in health behavior and health education emphasize a developmental and research-based approach to health promotion across the life span. Students in the Master of Education with a major in health behavior and health education program specialize in either physical activity and health promotion or lifespan health promotion.

All the health behavior and health education degree programs provide students with a solid background in the social and behavioral foundations of health. Students have the opportunity to design a course of study suited to their interests and the research interests of the faculty. The program prepares students for academic, research, and applied careers in health promotion.

Kinesiology

Students pursuing the Master of Science in Kinesiology specialize in exercise science or sport management; doctoral students may also specialize in interdisciplinary sport studies. Within exercise physiology, master’s degree students follow a general course of study or focus their work on clinical exercise physiology, sport sciences and nutrition, or exercise and sport psychology; doctoral students focus on human performance or exercise biochemistry. Students in movement science focus their work on biomechanics, motor control and learning, clinical movement science, sport movement science, or developmental science: pediatrics and aging.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring semester 2013.

Lawrence D Abraham
John Bartholomew
Robert Matthew Brothers
Sharon A Brown
Jessica Duncan Cance
Darla M Castelli
Edward F Coyle
Jonathan B Dingwell
Marlene A Dixon
Roger P Farrar
B C Green
Lisa Griffin
Bob Heere
Carole K Holahan
Thomas M Hunt
Jody Jensen
Esbelle M Jowers
Harold Willis Kohl III
Alexandra Loukas
Keryn Elizabeth Pasch
Fred L Peterson Jr
Mary A Steinhardt
Hirofumi Tanaka
Janice S Todd

Admission Requirements

A student who lacks the prerequisite coursework described below may be admitted to the Graduate School, but he or she must then complete coursework in the appropriate areas in addition to degree requirements.

Health Behavior and Health Education

To be admitted to the general Master of Education program, the applicant must have completed an undergraduate major or at least twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in physical education, kinesiology, and/or health education.

An applicant to the Master of Science in Health Behavior and Health Education or Master of Education with a major in health behavior and health education degree program with specialization in physical activity and health promotion or lifespan health promotion must have completed an undergraduate major in health education or a related discipline. The applicant must have completed at least three semester hours of coursework in each of the following areas: theory and methods of health education and/or health promotion, biological sciences, behavioral sciences, and statistics.

Doctoral degree programs. An undergraduate major in health education or a related discipline is required; the student must hold a master’s degree or the equivalent and must have completed at least three semester hours of coursework in each of the following areas: biological sciences, behavioral sciences, theory and methods of health education and/or health promotion, and statistics. The applicant must also be sponsored by a member of the Graduate Studies Committee. Applicants to the PhD program must demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research.

Kinesiology

  1. Kinesiology. To be admitted to the general Master of Education program, the applicant must have completed an undergraduate major or at least twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in physical education, kinesiology, and/or health education.
  2. Exercise Science

Exercise physiology. An applicant to the master’s or doctoral degree program with specialization in exercise physiology must have an undergraduate major in kinesiology or a related discipline and must have completed coursework in human anatomy, exercise physiology, and biomechanics. Applicants who plan to focus on exercise and sport psychology must also have completed coursework in sport psychology; all other applicants to the exercise physiology specialization must have completed coursework in vertebrate physiology. Doctoral applicants must also be sponsored by a member of the Graduate Studies Committee and must demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research.

Movement science. An applicant to the master’s or doctoral degree program with specialization in movement science must have an undergraduate major in kinesiology or a related discipline, and must have completed coursework in human anatomy, exercise physiology, biomechanics, and motor control and learning. Doctoral applicants must also be sponsored by a member of the Graduate Studies Committee and must demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research.

  1. Sport management. For admission to the master’s or doctoral degree program with specialization in sport management, an undergraduate major in kinesiology or a related discipline is recommended; the student must demonstrate competency in management and marketing and in two of the following areas: sport ethics/philosophy, sport history, sport law, sport sociology, social psychology of sport, or sport economics. These competencies can be further developed in the first year of the program. Doctoral applicants must also be sponsored by a member of the Graduate Studies Committee and must demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research.