Sport Studies

Chairman and Assistant Professor: PHILIP DAVID WALBRIGHT

The Sport Studies curriculum at Hillsdale College provides foundational study in physical education, allied medical fields, psychological/social sciences, and business related to sport. Preparation for graduate studies in several fields are also offered. The course to fulfill the college core requirement for understanding the importance of physical activity to wellness is included in the curriculum as well.

Four majors are available in the Sport Studies Department: Physical Education, Exercise Science, Sport Psychology, and Sport Management. Additionally, a Physical Education minor is offered, and course requirements for this minor are listed below.

Degrees

Courses of Instruction

SSD 140: Introduction to Shooting Sports

Credits 1

This course is intended to provide students with an overview of firearm safety, competitive shooting sports, the history of firearm development, federal firearm laws, and wildlife conservation funding. This course consists of eight weeks of instruction during the academic semester.

This course provides a foundation within multiple disciplines in the shooting sports. While the course will not go into great depth on any subject or discipline, it is intended to provide a platform from which to expand into more specialized courses and the larger shooting sports community. It is designed for new shooters, but is meant to be fun and educational regardless of experience level.

SSD 141: Basic Shotgun

Credits 1

This eight-week course is intended to help students learn the basics of certain clay target shooting disciplines and develop their clay target shooting skills and firearm safety. Most of the class time will be spent shooting outdoors. While this course focuses on the basics, it is meant to be fun and educational regardless of experience level.

Students that earn a passing grade in this course will earn the benefits of Halter Center membership until they graduate from Hillsdale College, including discounts on target fees.

SSD 142: Intermediate Shotgun

Credits 1

This eight-week course is intended to help students learn the basics of certain clay target shooting disciplines and develop their clay target shooting skills and firearm safety. Most of the class time will be spent shooting outdoors. While this course focuses on the basics, it is meant to be fun and educational regardless of experience level.

Students that earn a passing grade in this course will earn the benefits of Halter Center membership until they graduate from Hillsdale College, including discounts on target fees.

SSD 144: Basic Rifle and Pistol

Credits 1

This course is intended to help students develop their competition-style rifle and pistol abilities. It consists of eight weeks of instruction during the academic semester.

The course provides a platform for students who already have some familiarity with firearms to further develop their fundamental shooting skills and process. Subjects covered include indoor, Olympic-style air rifle and air pistol, outdoor small bore rifle and pistol, and larger caliber rifle and pistol. This course does not directly cover tactical-style competition or defensive shooting, though questions about these topics and discussion of how precision shooting relates to and complements these areas is welcomed and encouraged, provided it does not detract from the lesson. While this course focuses on the basics, it is meant to be fun and educational regardless of experience level.

SSD 180: Physical Wellness Dynamics

Credits 2
Students engage in a basic physical wellness program through physical conditioning, strength development, diet monitoring, and/or specific wellness activities. Weekly seminar sessions offer a knowledge base of the physiological effects and adaptations of exercise, nutrition, and stress on their mind, body, and spirit while managing a fit lifestyle. Additionally, discussion focuses on health and wellness issues and recent research findings. This course of study is intended to give students better preparation to make informed lifestyle choices and patterns of behavior, as well as provide rationale and motivation to pursue the highest quality of health and wellness. This class meets a core course requirement. Lecture and laboratory sections are required.

SSD 190: Safety and First Aid

Credits 2
The course covers theory and techniques of accident prevention, emergency care, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Red Cross certification in first aid and CPR is included in successful completion of the course.

SSD 200: Water Safety Instructor

Credits 2
This course covers methods and techniques of teaching swimming. Students also perfect their own swimming strokes and skills. Upon successful completion of the course, students will receive an American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor's certificate. Prerequisite: current advanced lifesaving certificate.

SSD 220: Officiating Sports

Credits 2
The techniques, methods, and science of officiating team sports. The student is required to officiate in organized athletic contests.

SSD 260: Athletic Training

Credits 2
A basic athletic training class with emphasis placed on application of knowledge. This theory and practical application course is designed to provide the student with information on the prevention, assessment, and intervention of emergency, acute, and chronic medical conditions involving impairment, functional limitations and disabilities, treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries, pharmacology, and general medical considerations. Prerequisite: BIO 308.

SSD 292: Methods of Outdoor Recreation

Credits 2
An outdoor experience in camping, canoeing, and cross-country skiing, plus an exposure to orienteering, shooting sports, angling, cycling and backpacking is included in the course.

SSD 300: Personal and Community Health

Credits 3
This course discusses and analyzes various aspects of nutrition, including but not limited to: proper components of a healthy diet; the role of the six categories of nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fats, and water); an inspection of healthy and unhealthy lifestyles and how they are impacted by an individual's overall nutritional intake; nutritional relevancy when dealing with cancer and other diseases; how the sources of our food have changed; and how to incorporate necessary aspects of nutrition that will result in an improvement of overall health for a lifetime. It will also include a description of basic concepts of fitness: muscular strength and endurance, cardio-respiratory endurance, and flexibility; how these components should be balanced and effectively implemented into the lifestyle of individuals of any age; and how to implement them cost-effectively in order to promote wellness that lasts a lifetime.

SSD 305: Nutrition

Credits 3
This course is a survey of the basic principles of nutrition in health and disease. The material covers nutrient classes, their functions and sources, deficiency and toxicity symptoms, along with practical applications that reflect nutritional impact in relationship to physical activity, weight loss, and maintenance. Nutritional needs at different stages of life and consumer concerns about food are also covered.

SSD 310: Theory and Practice of Football

Credits 2
Fundamentals and philosophy of coaching, with emphasis on best-known offensive and defensive systems are addressed. Modern techniques of training, game strategy, scouting and officiating are also explored.

SSD 313: Theory and Practice of Track and Field

Credits 2
This course covers the philosophy and techniques in coaching various events, administrating and managing meets, and methods of training, while considering factors that affect speed, endurance and fatigue.

SSD 315: Theory and Practice of Volleyball

Credits 2
Coaching and advanced skills are covered, along with selection of a team, preparation, officiating, and conducting competitive events. Prerequisite: SSD 115 or permission of the instructor.

SSD 320: Methods of Teaching Physical Education

Credits 3
The student will examine the role and procedures of teaching Physical Education at the elementary and secondary school levels. The course will have a strong emphasis on skill development, activity promotion, and physical fitness behaviors. Students will be taught to encourage attitudes and impart skills to K-12 students that will inspire them to pursue physical fitness throughout life. The course will also include practical experience in unit lesson planning, classroom management techniques, evaluation procedures, assessments, and developing age-appropriate units.

SSD 325: Teaching School Health

Credits 2
The student will study the methods of teaching health education, new directions in the field, planning a curriculum, and organization of material.

SSD 330: Motor Learning and Kinesiology

Credits 3
This course is designed to help the student understand the basics of human movement and simple motor skills. The course is structured to allow the student to examine each articulation (joint) and movement characteristics. The course concludes with a look at simple, gross motor movement pattern investigation. Prerequisite: BIO 308.

SSD 332: Sport Business and Finance

Credits 2

This class will examine the details of finance in the sport industry. Topics specific to business and finance in the world of sports will include management of ticketing systems as well as budgeting and generation of revenue for sport programs from the secondary level to every tier of professional sports. Financial development and management of capital projects, including mixing public and private funds, will be covered as well. The course will also discuss ongoing financial issues within sport organizations, such as revenue versus non-revenue sports, pay to play, labor relations, and sport funding

SSD 335: History and Philosophy of P.E. and Sport

Credits 3
This three-credit-hour course is designed to teach fundamental concepts and philosophy underlying physical education, fitness, and sport, as well as historical developments and their significance.

SSD 340: Adapted Physical Education

Credits 2
This course will provide students with theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to plan and implement appropriate physical education programs in integrated settings for students with disabilities. Emphasis is given to the adaptation of physical education to the needs of children with physical, intellectual, emotional, or sensory disabilities. Strategies for program planning and implementation include writing modified IEP goals, activity and equipment adaptation, case studies, and techniques of teaching.

SSD 350: Measurement in Physical Education

Credits 2
A theory and methods course using statistical analysis of various physical tests in the area of health and physical education. Consideration is given to evaluating and grading the physical education student and to interpretation of the test results.

SSD 360: Advanced Athletic Training

Credits 3
This is a theory and practical application course designed to provide the student with information on the prevention, assessment, and intervention of emergency, acute, and chronic medical conditions involving impairment, functional limitations, and disabilities; treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries; use of therapeutic modalities; pharmacology; psychological implications to injury and illness; as well as general medical considerations. Prerequisite: SSD 260.

SSD 362: Health Care Ethics

Credits 2
This course presents an overview of the legal and ethical issues facing the health care industry. It provides students with a basic working knowledge of health law and ethics. It is a comprehensive and inclusive review of a wide variety of health care legal issues. Students are provided a realistic knowledge of health law and its application to the real world.

SSD 364: Medical Terminology

Credits 2
This course explores medical language and reinforces information primarily from anatomy and physiology. Medical Terminology is often a prerequisite for graduate programs in health professions.

SSD 370: Sport Psychology

Credits 3
This course is designed for the undergraduate student interested in sport and exercise psychology as an academic discipline. It applies concepts derived from the study of sport to an applied setting. Topics covered are: motivation in sport and exercise, arousal attention and personality of the athlete, situational factors related to anxiety and mood, cognitive and behavioral interventions, social psychology of sport, and the psychobiology of sport and exercise.

SSD 374: Principles and Practice of Sport and Athletic Management

Credits 3
The course will provide students with specific understanding of management as it impacts the sport environment. Students will acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities relating to the basic principles of management, marketing, law, finance and ethics in sports, and how those factors interact with each other. Students will be challenged to apply knowledge of sport management situations to solve basic problems faced by sport managers. The course will also introduce and explore career opportunities in professional sports, semiprofessional sport organizations, collegiate athletics, sport marketing agencies, sport broadcasting venues, and facility management in both community and commercial venues.

SSD 392: Field Experience

Credits 1 Max Credits 3
This study is a laboratory experience in a health, sport studies, teaching, or athletic program which includes student assistantships in teaching, intramurals, club sports, and varsity athletics. Minimum of sophomore status is required.

SSD 405: Advanced Nutrition

Credits 3
This course is a study of the basic biological principles of human nutrition in health and disease. The course covers the chemical nature of essential nutrients, the biology of their functions in the human body, survey of nutrition in the life cycles, introduction of computer use in diet analysis and diet adequacy, and modification of diets for therapeutic use. Prerequisite: SSD 305

SSD 410: Organization & Administration

Credits 3

This course is designed to teach a variety of key concepts in leading sports organizations. Topics will include leadership functions of an administrator including (but not limited to) fiscal management, personnel management, facilities management, community relations, fundraising, scheduling, law, policy, and planning. To culminate their experiences, students will be prompted to draw from their cumulative undergraduate knowledge to develop a personal philosophy and successfully advocate the need for athletics in education. The foundation of the class will focus on the administration of sport on a variety of levels (youth, secondary level, higher education, and professional organizations) and present the many opportunities that exist in Sport Management.

SSD 430: Biomechanics and Advanced Kinesiology

Credits 3

This course is designed to help the student further understand the basics of human movement by applying mechanical principles to biological systems. The course is structured to allow the student to examine problems of static and dynamic systems from kinematic and kinetic perspectives and analyses. The course concludes with a look at the laws of mechanics as applied to gain a greater understanding of effective athletic performance and prevention of sport injuries. Prerequisite: SSD 330 and PHY 101.

SSD 454: Sport Law and Ethics

Credits 3
This course examines the legal, financial, moral, and policy issues and disputes that arise in the world of amateur and professional sports. The casebook assignments cover some of the most current and comprehensive legal developments affecting high school, college, Olympic, and professional sports. We will discuss new landmark judicial decisions, as well as significant NCAA infractions cases and Olympic sports arbitration awards. Students are also provided an opportunity to debate complex issues related to the application of antitrust, labor, and intellectual property law to sports. We will approach the issues from the perspective of various players in the sports industry, such as the sports lawyer, corporate counselor, university administrator, team manager, various sports regulatory bodies, and, of course, the athletes and fans.

SSD 470: Advanced Sport Psychology

Credits 3
This course looks into contemporary research topics in the field of psychology in sport and exercise settings. Students will study advanced team-building, leadership literature, and specialized topics of dysfunction, such as injury coping, burn-out, slump busting, drug abuse and addiction, aggression in sports, and eating disorders. Other more practical topics such as emotional/social intelligence, character development, assertiveness and empathy, trust and respect, and behavior modification will be examined and discussed. Prerequisite: SSD 370.

SSD 482: Therapeutic Modalities

Credits 3
This course focuses on the study of current theories and applications in the use of therapeutic modalities in the athletic training and/or clinical setting. The student will gain an understanding of the underlying physics, physiological effects, indications, and contraindications of the use of physical agents. Emphasis will be placed on the proper procedures for application of thermal, electrotherapeutic and hydrotherapeutic modalities.

SSD 490: Exercise Physiology

Credits 4
This course provides a broad survey of the physiological mechanisms involved in the human response to exercise. Nutrition and its role in athletic performance will also be considered. The student is to develop his/her knowledge of cardiovascular and respiratory physiology as well as strength training and anaerobic exercise. A laboratory component is included in the course. Prerequisite: BIO 308.

SSD 492: Functional Anatomy

Credits 3

The intent of Functional Anatomy is to develop the student's ability to identify and describe human motion. This course will provide an opportunity for students to apply knowledge from anatomy and pshysiology courses to human movement models. Prerequisites: BIO 308 and SSD 330.

SSD 494: Internship

Credits 3 Max Credits 6
This course provides extended experience in a sport-related business or activity. The student may work with his/her advisor to identify the opportunity that will best accomplish the student's goals. Prerequisite: junior standing.