Degrees, Majors, and Certificates
Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies Graduate-Level Courses
Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies
HPER R500 Philosophy of Leisure and Recreation (3 cr.) Exploration of philosophical, ethical, historical, and cultural foundations for recreation in society; challenge of leisure and role of recreation in present and predicted environments.
HPER R504 Outdoor Instructorship (3 cr.) Examination of the basic techniques and practices used in outdoor programming. Of specific interest will be those techniques, skills, and procedures used in the instructing, teaching, and supervision of individuals and groups in outdoor environments.
HPER R511 Leadership in Challenge Education (2 cr.) Explore current issues in the field of challenge education and experience the transformation of classroom learning into practice. Students will develop skills in group participation, group leadership, and the debriefing experience.
HPER R512 Principles of Outdoor Experiential Therapy (3 cr.) Examination of the principles and practices inherent in the field of Outdoor Experiential Therapy (OET). Topics include the historical development of OET, research and practice-based findings, specific techniques currently in use, issues and trends in OET, and emerging developments in therapeutic and managerial adaptations for the field.
HPER R513 Outdoor Adventure Programming: Foundations and Theories (3 cr.) Examines the history, management administration, and current issues in outdoor and adventure-based programs. Special attention will be given to developing an understanding of organizational involvement, social and ecological issues in risk management. Students will be expected to engage in additional pedagogical responsibilities, such as an additional paper and/or conducting a class.
HPER R515 Special Concerns in Parks and Recreation (1-5 cr.) Current issues in a variety of park and recreation settings. Topics vary with instructor and year. Consult the Schedule of Classes for current information. May be repeated for credit if topic differs.
HPER R520 Organizational Leadership for Leisure Service (3 cr.) Organization and administration of public and not-for-profit agencies, with emphasis on leadership and management skills, including empowerment, leadership, envisioning, organizing, quality, and contemporary management issues.
HPER R522 Economics and Marketing for Leisure Services (3 cr.) Marketing’s role in promoting tourism destinations with focus on the effects of economics, social, cultural, technological, and legal changes in tourism. Controllable variables essential to tourism marketing success will be examined. Explores how marketing guides tourism destination’s business strategy and influences, discovers, and creates a demand for tourism services/products.
HPER R523 Visitor Behavior (3 cr.) Examines the theory and findings of visitor and tourism research as it is conducted in recreation and leisure settings such as parks, museums, towns, historic sites, sporting facilities, and resorts. Topics include visitor motivations, expectations, social interaction, and assessment. Students will learn nine techniques for gathering information from and about visitors.
HPER R524 Fundraising for Public and Nonprofit Agencies (3 cr.) Provides basic principles of professional fundraising. Course covers why people give, how funds are raised, legal and ethical considerations, volunteerism, and institutional advancement. Applies to a broad array of graduate students in the fields of recreation, sports, fine arts, music, and education.
HPER R525 Administrative Theory and Management Practices in Leisure Services (3 cr.) Investigations of how administrative theory and management practices in leisure services have changed since 1900. Involves the study of contemporary and future management issues influencing the delivery of leisure services in public and nonprofit settings. Particular emphasis is given to implications for leisure service managers and organizational responses.
HPER R526 Cultural Heritage Tourism (3 cr.) Course provides a substantive study of tourism to investigate a wide diversity of cultural heritage in various historic, cultural, and natural resource-based settings.
HPER R528 Theoretical Foundations of Adventure/Experiential Education (3 cr.) This course examines the models, theories, and research applications utilized in adventure and experiential education. Emphasis is placed on developing an understanding of the salient models and resultant research, and being able to integrate that knowledge into the development of “new” models and theories.
HPER R529 Resource-Based Tourism: Administration and Management (3 cr.) This course will integrate various concepts of natural resource management, tourism theory, and selected business practices to examine the form, functions, and impact of resource-based tourism.
HPER R530 Comprehensive Recreation Planning/Park Design (3 cr.) Procedures for developing community comprehensive park and recreation plans and specific plans for parks, including design characteristics for selected recreation and support facilities. Emphasis on planning policies and procedures, surveys, data gathering, and design concepts.
HPER R535 Great Lakes Park Training Institute (1 cr.) Practicum training in the management of a continuing education institute for park and recreation administrators, supervisors, and technicians.
HPER R539 Master’s Project in Administration (2-4 cr.) Provides administration master’s candidates with an understanding of processes, requirements, and expectations of the master’s project. Provides a head start to the completion of the master’s project.
HPER R540 Policy Studies in Outdoor Recreation and Tourism (3 cr.) Critical analysis of the historic development, current status, and changing patterns of public policy in outdoor recreation and tourism and related environmental sustainability as it pertains to the United States and selected countries. Intensive examination of selected public policy issues, particularly those affecting tourist and visitor experience and relative impacts.
HPER R541 Camping Administration (3 cr.) Organization and administration of camps; program planning, selection, and training of staff; campsite selection and development; and health and safety.
HPER R542 Recreation Resource Administration (3 cr.) Examination of resource management approaches to recreation resource administration. The resource management aspects will take an ecological and sociological approach to understanding complex problems and issues, management practices, resource policies, and allocation of resources. Special focus on legal and ethical aspects of resource management, environmental protection, personnel management, and budget formulation.
HPER R543 Principles of Outdoor/Environmental Education (3 cr.) Basic principles, philosophies, and methodologies of both outdoor education and environmental education. Enables students to associate characteristics that relate to each field as well as aspects that differentiate both. Monthly field trips.
HPER R544 Legal Aspects of Recreation Administration (3 cr.) The course concentrates on the legal aspects of parks, recreation, tourism, and sports. It provides students with an understanding of the risk management process, negligence, intentional torts, strict liability, standards of care, and attractive nuisance. The Socratic method of teaching is applied to this class.
HPER R545 Advanced Ecosystem Management in Outdoor Recreation (3 cr.) Exploration of the principles, theories, concepts, and practical realities of ecosystem management. Enables students to design, initiate, and coordinate to completion complex projects of an ecological nature.
HPER R555 Outdoor Recreation Consortium (2 cr.) This course is designed to convey both practical information and direct experience to students about components of outdoor recreation and resource management. To accomplish this goal, this course enables students to participate in a one-week outdoor recreation consortium at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It will also offer graduate students the opportunity for leadership roles associated with consortium topics.
HPER R556 Field Techniques in Environmental Education (3 cr.) This is an intensive one-week course that uses the outdoors as the laboratory to share strategies, methodologies, and techniques to teach environmental education concepts to others. The course offers training and subsequent certification in the three environmental education curricula: Project Wild, Project Wet, and Project Learning Tree. These skills will enable graduate students to integrate this curriculum into their own formal or non-formal school programs.
HPER R560 Professional Development for Therapeutic Recreation (3 cr.) Contemporary principles and understanding for the delivery of therapeutic recreational service. Opportunities to refine personal and professional philosophy of therapeutic recreation.
HPER R561 Advanced Therapeutic Recreation Processes (3 cr.) Techniques, approaches, procedures, and practices in the provision of therapeutic recreation service.
HPER R562 Social Psychology of Therapeutic Recreation (3 cr.) A structured purview of the social psychology of therapeutic recreation service. Emphasis on social and organizational behaviors relevant to therapeutic recreation.
HPER R563 Program Development and Consultation in Therapeutic Recreation (3 cr.) Concerns in developing and providing therapeutic recreational programs and consultation.
HPER R564 Introduction to Outdoor Experiential Therapy (1 cr.) Exploration of concepts related to the past, present, and future trends of experiential therapy. Focus on reading and reflection, experiential training, and small group facilitation and discussion.
HPER R565 Leisure and Aging (3 cr.) Explores the role of leisure in adult development with specific focus on the aging process, leisure needs, and leisure services. Basic concepts associated with leisure, aging, targeting leisure services, research, and public policy are presented in light of forecasting leisure demand in the 21st century.
HPER R566 Therapeutic Interventions with the Elderly (3 cr.) Promotes understanding of elderly persons who are frail, vulnerable, infirm, or disabled and how activities may be used to reach treatment and rehabilitation goals with clients from this population.
HPER R567 Issues and Concepts in Adventure and Outdoor-Based Programs (3 cr.) Exploration of various issues and concepts associated with adventure and outdoor-based programs. Includes an experiential learning component and is offered in a seminar format.
HPER R570 Recreational Sports Administration (3 cr.) The study of recreational sports (informal/intramural/extramural/club sports) relevant to historical developments, philosophical foundations, programming implications, administrative considerations, and creative activity.
HPER R571 Dynamics of Recreational Sport Environment (3 cr.) Study of the interaction of the participant in the recreational sports environment as it relates to the individual’s self-awareness, social awareness, and physical awareness. The role of sport in society, from a global perspective, is examined with particular emphasis on the recreational sport participant.
HPER R572 Seminar in Recreational Sports (2 cr.) Focuses on the experiences that relate directly to the basic programmatic and administrative aspects of recreational sports administration. Various topics are discussed by faculty members and practitioners with specialized areas of expertise.
HPER R580 Strategic Planning and Management in Recreation, Park, and Nonprofit Agencies (3 cr.) Introduction to the basic elements and concepts of tourism planning. The course examines the planning process for developing regional tourism, as well as the most common approaches to planning for specific types of tourism and tourism-related facilities. Special emphasis will be given to the planning of city tourism.
HPER R585 Wilderness in the American Mind (3 cr.) The philosophical turmoil of formal wilderness creation in the United States will be presented in this course. Discussion and debate of the European influences on wilderness thinking in the United States as well as examination of wilderness experiences of early European settlers to America will be addressed. The course traces the history of influential leaders in wilderness designations and the political climate of wilderness debates.
HPER R599 Master’s Thesis (1-5 cr.)
HPER R640 Independent Study and Research (1-5 cr.) P: Graduate GPA of at least 3.0. Independent research conducted under guidance of a graduate faculty member.
HPER R641 Readings in Recreation (1-5 cr.) P: Graduate GPA of at least 3.0. Restricted to advanced master’s and director’s degree students. Individualized advanced study of specific topics under faculty direction. Topic areas within which study contracts may be developed include park/recreation administration, recreational sports administration, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, armed forces recreation, and resource management.
HPER R642 Internships in Recreation and Parks (2-8 cr.) Supervised off-campus professional field experience in appropriate agencies or other approved settings. Only S/F grades given. Internships are available in the following areas of emphasis: park/recreation administration, recreational sports administration, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, armed forces recreation, and resource management.
HPER R643 Practicum in Recreation and Parks (1-6 cr.) Field experience as specified in written individualized contracts with supervising faculty. Only S/F grades given. Practicums are available in the following areas of emphasis: park/recreation administration, recreational sports administration, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, armed forces recreation, and resource management.
HPER R667 Seminar in Recreation (1-3 cr.) Seminars in one or more of the following emphasis areas are as indicated each semester in the Schedule of Classes: park/recreation administration, recreational sports administration, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, armed forces recreation, and resource management.
HPER R701 Social Psychology of Leisure (3 cr.) P: HPER R500 or consent of instructor. Students gain an understanding of the application of social psychology to one important aspect of human life—leisure behavior.
HPER R702 Higher Education in Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services (3 cr.) Investigation and discussion of current trends and issues affecting higher education in recreation, parks, and leisure services.
HPER R703 Inquiry Methodology in Leisure Behavior (3 cr.) An in-depth study of the realm of research in leisure behavior. Conceptual and methodological issues involved in problem formulation and application of appropriate designs.
HPER R704 Doctoral Seminar: Leisure Behavior (3 cr.) Examination of issues in leisure behavior in a systematic and comprehensive way, using a multidisciplinary perspective. Working in teams, students will conduct research on questions of leisure behavior.
HPER R740 Advanced Research in Recreation (1-5 cr.) P: Graduate GPA of at least 3.0. Open to students pursuing the directorate or the doctorate. Research conducted under the direction of and with the advance approval of a member of the graduate faculty in one of the following areas: park/recreation administration, recreational sports administration, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, armed forces recreation, and resource management.
HPER R741 Advanced Readings in Recreation (1-5 cr.) P: Graduate GPA of at least 3.0. Restricted to doctoral students. Individualized advanced study of specific topics under faculty direction. Topic areas within which study contracts may be developed are park/recreation administration, recreational sports administration, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, armed forces recreation, and resource management.
HPER R790 Re.D. Dissertation (1-15 cr.)
HPER R799 Ph.D. Dissertation (1-30 cr.)
Interdepartmental and Technical Courses
HPER T500 Current Interdisciplinary Topics (1-3 cr.) A flexible format course that facilitates the cooperation of two or more departments in presenting an interdisciplinary approach to the study of important topics of current mutual interest.
HPER T590 Introduction to Research in Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation (3 cr.) Methods and techniques of research; potential and completed problems analyzed with view to selection of topics; standards for writing research papers.
HPER T591 Interpretation of Data in Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation (3 cr.) Elementary and essential statistical and graphical techniques for analysis and interpretation of data; practice with actual data.
HPER T592 Statistical Techniques of Research in Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation (3 cr.) Theory of advanced statistical techniques; practical applications with actual data.
HPER T593 Public Relations (3 cr.) Principles of public relations, human relations, identification, and analysis of publics, problem solving, and techniques in communication media.
HPER T594 Finance and Budgeting (3 cr.) Sources of revenue and budgetary procedures for public leisure service agencies. Fund management, financial analysis, purchasing, contractual agreements, and other fiscal concerns.
HPER T595 Construction and Analysis of Achievement Tests in Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation (3 cr.) Principles of construction, selection, interpretation of written achievement tests in health and safety, physical education and recreation, and other evaluative procedures; analysis of standardized tests. Project required to apply principles involved.
HPER T691 Correlational Techniques (3 cr.) P: HPER T592. Multivariate statistical techniques and analytical procedures commonly used in applied research. The topics include matrix algebra, data screening, multiple regression, multivariate analysis of variance and covariance, discriminant function analysis, logistic regression, and principle components and factor analysis.
HPER T693 Experimental Analysis and Design (3 cr.) P: HPER T592 with a grade of B or better. Principles and resources for designing and analyzing experiments using ANOVA models. Includes between and within subjects designs, factorial arrangements and nested designs, analysis of covariance, trends, statistical power and effect size. Incorporates computer programs.
