CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN HEALTH AND FITNESS
PE 4899
AUTUMN 2003 – 2 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course addresses interdisciplinary and thematic topics of immediate and future concern for leaders in sport and exercise and the requirements for Seattle Pac ific University’s senior capstone course.
The course takes the position that sport and exercise should be delivered and developed as an outgrowth of principled professional goals to promote a healthy society and foster sensible personal development.
The topics are selected by students and the faculty; samples include the value of competitive programs for children; the balance of wilderness protection and access; acceptable forms of performance enhancement; and mandating fitness and exercise in the schools.
The course prepares graduating students for the final colloquium presentation.
INSTRUCTOR: JoAnn Atwell-Scrivner
Office Hours: TBA (Please check at front desk for availability)
Phone: 281-2941 (w)
I. UNIVERSITY PERSPECTIVE
A. Mission Statement: As a community of learners, Seattle Pacific
University seeks to educate and prepare students for service and leadership. We are committed to evangelical Christian faith and values, and to excellence in teaching and scholarship for the intellectual, personal and spiritual growth of students.
B. Goals:
1. Demonstrate discipline-specific knowledge and skills.
2. Demonstrate personal and professional integrity by knowing the right thing to do and doing it regardless of personal cost.
3. Discern what is good, true, or right in complex or ambiguous situations that call for decision-making informed by faith.
4. Participate in the SPU community in a way that demonstrates caring and respect for self and others, forgiveness and responsible debate.
5. Engage in the world beyond SPU in a way that appreciates differences, serves community needs and respectfully challenges opposing ideas.

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C. If you have a specific disability that qualifies you for academic accommodations, please contact Disabled Student Services in the
Center for Learning to make your accommodations request. Once your eligibility has been determined, Disabled Student Services will send a letter to your professors indicating what accommodations have been approved.
II. DEPARTMENT PERSPECTIVE
A. Mission Statement: The faculty and staff in the Department of
Physical Education are committed to delivering programs that promote physically active lifestyles while valuing and examining sport and exercise through a Christian worldview.
B. Goals and General Learning Objectives
1. Encourage students, staff and faculty to value physical activity and assist them developing leisure interests and skills as demonstrated by the ability of students to: a. articulate the significance of sport and exercise in context of human well-being b. engage effectively in regular leisure time physical activity c. support or initiate public policy that encourages physical activity within their communities
2. Prepare competent, caring, and committed leaders in sport and exercise as demonstrated by the ability of students to: a. model their interest in physical activity as a priority in their lives b. articulate a view of sport and exercise from the context of a
Christian worldview c. function as self-motivated and innovative forerunners in the domain d. demonstrate introspective analysis of the critical issues facing professionals and participants in sport and exercise e. engage in service and leadership on behalf of sport and exercise in their community and with relevant professional organizations.
III. OBJECTIVES
A. The course is designed to challenge the students to consider the ramifications of sport and exercise in the following areas: emotional, spiritual/moral, economic, mental, social/cultural, and physical influences. Upon completion of this course, careful reading of all course materials and an honest effort in participating in the various course activities, the learner will be able to:

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1. Identify current issues in sport and fitness/exercise as potential research topics. [I. B.1,5, II. B.,1.a,2.b,c,d]
2. Develop the reflection level of application to SPU
Christian Faith Exploration triad of reflection, conviction, and anticipation within a Christian liberal arts context. [I.
B.1,5, II. B.,1a,2.b,c,d]
3. Evaluate the impact and importance of sport and fitness/exercise within a global, regional and local context. [I. B.1,5, II. B.,1a,2.b,c,d]
4. Develop two cohesive, scholarly position papers pertaining to two different global sport and fitness categories. [I. B.1,5, II. B.,1.a,2.b,c,d]
5. Develop a scholarly, literature-based review of topics of sport and fitness. [I. B.1,5, II. B.,1.a,2.b,c,d]
6. Submit a research instrument designed to further investigate the student’s chosen topic of inquiry. [I. B.1,5,
II. B.,1.a,2.b,c,d]
7. Present a topic of interest in a professional manner and lead the class in a discussion of the ramifications and implications of the selected issue. [I. B.1,5, II.
B.,1.a,2.b,c,d]
IV. TENTATIVE COURSE CONTENT
Week 1 Course overview, introduction to course, objectives and course expectations
Selection of research topic
Review of research techniques
Group presentation of discussion/essay topics
If you want to write, Chapters 1-3
Week 2 The nature of sport
If you want to write, Chapters 4-6
Week 3 Aesthetics and sport
(Position paper 1 due)
If you want to write, Chapters 7-9
Week 4 Ethics and sport – sportsmanship (sportspersonship), cheating, winning- losing, violence, performance enhancing drugs and procedures
If you want to write, Chapters 10-12
Week 5 Ethics and sport (continued)
Sport and society-heroism, gender, pedagogy, race
If you want to write, Chapters 12-15

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Week 6
Week 7
Sport and society (continued)
If you want to write, Chapters 16-18
Position presentations
Synchronicity ; part one
(Position paper 2 due)
Week 8 Position presentations
Synchronicity ; part two
Week 9 Research topic presentations
Synchronicity ; part three
Week 10 Research instrument presentations
Synchronicity ; part four
(Literature review and research instrument due)
V. EVALUATION
A.
C.
Position papers
B. Literature review
Research instrument
20 points (10 points/paper)
30 points
25 points
D. Participation and preparation 25 points
E. Position presentations 25 points
F. CFE (part 1 reflection)
Total
25 points
150 points
G. Total points will be added and the grades will be designated on the following scale:
%
95-100
Grade
A
%
76-79
Grade
C+
90-94
89-86
83-85
A-
B+
B
73-75
70-72
66-69
C
C-
D+
80-82 B- 63-65
62 and below
D
E
H. Key course objective course work
1. Position papers – 2-3 pages written in a scholarly format with appropriate content, flow, and cohesiveness. All citings must be current APA format.

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2. Final literature review of selected research topic. This component must be completed prior to registration for
Winter quarter class.
3. Research instrument for senior colloquium project. This component must be completed prior to registration for
Winter quarter class.
4. Participation and preparation – This course will be taught in a seminar format and prior reading of assignments is expected and will be noted. Spontaneous assignments will be conducted based upon assigned readings.
5. Position presentations – Twelve to fifteen minutes of student led discussion regarding a specific topic of interest and the research instrument designed. The instructor will formulate the presentation groupings.
6. CFE paper based upon the reflective component of the triad. This paper will investigate the student’s application of current issues within health, fitness, and sport into their personal reflections on their search for truth.
VI. RESOURCES
Required textbook :
Jaworski, J. (1998). Synchronicity: The inner path of leadership . San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Ueland, B. (1987). If you want to write: A book about art, independence and spirit . St. Paul:Graywolf Press.
Additional resources and references:
1. Selections from Homo Ludens, John Huizinga.
2. The Nature of Sport: A Definitional Effort, John W. Loy, Jr.
3. Tricky Triad: Games, Play, and Sport, Bernard Suits.
4. Triad Trickery: Playing with Sports and Games, Klaus V. Meier.
5. A Matter of Life and Death: Some Thoughts on the Nature of Sport,
6. Practices and Prudence, W. Miller Brown.
7. Moral Liberalism and the Atrophy of Sport: Autonomy, Desire, and Social
Irresponsibility, M. Andrew Holowchak.
8. Is Sport Unique? A Question of Definability, S.K. Wertz.
9. The Well-Played Game: Notes Towards an Aesthetics of Sport, E.F.
Kaelin.
10. The Aesthetic in Sport, David Best.
11. Beauty, Sport, and Gender, J.M. Boxill.
12. Differences Between Sport and Art, Christopher Cordner.

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13. Three Approaches Toward an Understanding of Sportsmanship, Peter J.
Arnold.
14. Sportsmanship and Fairness in the Pursuit of Victory, Robert Simon.
15. Can Cheaters Play the Game?, Craig K. Lehman.
16. Fair Play: Historical Anachronism or Topical Ideal?
Sigmund Loland.
17. Where's the Merit if the Best Man Wins?, David Carr.
18. The Overemphasis on Winning: A Philosophical Look, Joan Hundley.
19. On Winning and Athletic Superiority, Nicholas Dixon.
20. The Dark Side of Competition, D. Stanley Eitzen.
21. Into the End Zone for a Touchdown: A Psychoanalytic Consideration of
American Football, Alan Dundes.
22. Violence and Aggression in Contemporary Sport, Jim Parry.
23. Sports and Speciesism, Maurice L. Wade.
24. Paternalism, Drugs, and the Nature of Sports, W. M. Brown.
25. On Performance-Enhancing Substances and the Unfair Advantage
Argument, Roger Gardner.
26. Aretism' and Pharmacological Ergogenic Aids in Sport: Taking a Shot at
the Use of Steroids, M. Andrew Holowchak.
27 On Reaching First Base with a 'Science' of Moral Development in Sports:
Problems with Scientific Objectivity and Reductivism, Russell W. Gough.
28. An Epistemologist Looks at the Hot Hand in Sport, Stephen D. Hales.
29. Is Our Admiration for Sports Heroes Fascistoid?, Torbjörn Tännsjö.
30. Sports, Fascism, and the Market, Claudio M. Tamburrini.
31. Television Sports and the Sacrificial Hero, John Izod.
32. Women in Masculine Sports, B.C. Postow.
33. Title IX and Gender Equity, Jan Boxill.
34. The Men's Cultural Centre: Sports and Dynamic of Women's
Oppression/Men's Repression, Bruce Kidd.
35. Title IX: Equality for Women's Sports?
Leslie P. Francis.
36. White Men Can't Run, Amby Burfoot.
37. Racial Difference in Sports: What's Ethics Got to Do with It?,
Albert Mosley.
38. Education for Peace in Sports Education, Frans De Wachter.
39. Virtue Lost: Courage in Sport, John Corlett.
40. Aggression, Gender, and Sport: Reflections on Sport as a Means of Moral
Education, M. Andrew Holowchak.
41. Sport in the Larger Scheme of Things, William J. Morgan.
42. Democracy, Education, and Sport, Peter J. Arnold.
43. Sports and the Making of National Identities: A Moral View,
William J. Morgan.

Prompts
Truth
Blake
“Singular and particular detail is the foundation of the sublime”.
“Minuteness is their whole beauty”.
The more you wish to describe a universal the more minutely and truthfully you must describe a particular.
Global perspective
Jaworski
We can’t see people as they really are because we’re too busy reacting to our own internal experiences of what they evoke in us, so we rarely actually relate to relate to reality. (p. 8)
It’s about a shift from seeing a world made up of things to seeing a world that;s open and primarily made up of relationships…(p.10)
Mach’s principle
The whole is as necessary to the understanding of its parts, as the parts are necessary to the understanding of the whole.(p.83)
Change
Once you appreciate that the nature of our world, our universe, in nonsubstnatial, yet exists, then you immediately open up to the possibility of change. (p.177)
Knowledge compels us to see that our world, our communities, our organizations wil change only if we change. (p.175)
All human beings are a part of that unbroken whole which is continually unfolding from the implicate and making itself manifest in our explicate world. (p. 182)