If the NFL Draft has you itching to explore sports from an academic perspective, look no further than Pitt’s multi-disciplinary Sport Studies Certificate. Created by history professors Rob Ruck and Liann Tsoukas, along with Gabby Yearwood, managing faculty director for the Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice, the certificate aims to help students interested in working in the sports industry. It examines sports through the lenses of economics, politics, world history, health, science, and social life.
According to Ruck, the certificate was born of the student’s enthusiasm for the subject.
“What I found over the years was not only that Pitt students were greatly interested in sport; more and more of them wanted to work in the industry somewhere, in some capacity. And there were other people already teaching courses about sport in anthropology, health and rehabilitative sciences, political science, English, and economics.”
The certificate requires 18 credits worth of classes and an internship. A proposal to create a multi-disciplinary sport studies major is currently being advanced. For more information and how to apply, visit the Sport Studies Certificate website.