WELCOME TO THE AKA WEB SITE
Our Origin
AKA was created through a joint plan initiated by the Human Kinetics Foundation and the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. The inaugural meeting was held in Orlando, Florida, on February 8-9, 2007. The fifteen academicians who were invited to the meeting agreed to become the official Board of Directors for AKA for a term expiring December 31, 2009. Three officers—President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer—were elected for the same term. Six committees were appointed—Governance, Advocacy, Education, Information Development, Membership, and Publications. AKA has incorporated, is filing for tax exempt status, has obtained an official web address, and is well-funded by the HK Foundation for the next three years.
A second meeting of the AKA Board of Directors was held June 10-12, 2007, to further develop plans for the association. On June 12th the AKA Board met with representatives of twelve scholarly societies, some of whom were members of the AKA Board, to discuss how these scholarly societies and AKA could cooperate to promote and enhance the discipline of kinesiology.
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Our Purpose
We define kinesiology as the academic discipline which involves the study of physical activity and its impact on health, society, and quality of life. Our purpose is to promote and enhance kinesiology as a unified field of study and advance its many applications.
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Our Mission
For those of us who have witnessed the birth of kinesiology in higher education, who have nurtured it through infancy, and marveled at its growth during childhood, we now recognize the need for enlightened parenting to guide kinesiology through its teen years and into adulthood. That is our mission through the American Kinesiology Association, to see kinesiology mature into adulthood as a leading discipline in academe.
We want to represent and advocate for kinesiology at academic, governmental, and professional events, both nationally and internationally. AKA will not be a voice heard unless it is a strong voice supported by most academic departments and sub-discipline societies. Standing united we have a better opportunity to promote kinesiology as a visible and equal discipline in higher education, to take a seat alongside mathematics, physiology, psychology, and history in national education affairs. We want to represent kinesiology when governmental agencies develop national policies that concern kinesiology and when research and program dollars are allocated. We want to draw on the knowledge of kinesiology to address public and professional policies. And we want to represent and promote kinesiology through participation in international associations and events.
We especially want to serve the needs of kinesiology departments, our members. We intend to be a source for national and regional data about the discipline of kinesiology that will be helpful to you in justifying and supporting programs. We will assist kinesiology departments that are under review for elimination or integration with other departments. Through the AKA website we will provide useful information for faculty and students as well as prospective students. And we will especially seek to provide leadership training and continuing education for kinesiology administrators in higher education. And as we go forth we’ll seek your guidance in how AKA can best help your department and the discipline.
We wish to assist all scholarly societies associated with kinesiology. If we can help strengthen the discipline, we help strengthen the sub-disciplines. We’ll promote individual membership in their organizations and we’ll seek research funding for these sub-disciplines.
We will seek to facilitate communication among academic departments, scholarly societies, and professional associations affiliated with kinesiology. We’ll do so through electronic newsletters and an expansive website.
We’ll encourage cross-disciplinary study in kinesiology as well as cross-disciplinary application of knowledge to problems in the physical activity field. We’ll conduct occasional cross-disciplinary, thematic conferences to bring together the sub-disciplines and the professions related to kinesiology to address research and practical issues.
We’ll promote kinesiology in academe and to the public. As an emerging discipline kinesiology is still foreign to many in academe and to most of the larger public. Thus, we’ll be a voice that not only corrects misperceptions about kinesiology but promotes the virtues and benefits of the discipline.
We of course recognize that we cannot achieve all these objectives immediately or alone, but we’re committed to beginning and invite you to join us.
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Brief History
As a discipline devoted to the study of physical activity in its many forms, kinesiology has historical roots dating back many centuries, but the modern era of kinesiology began just 50 years ago. When physical education departments were challenged by legislators and university administrators to justify themselves as an academic discipline in higher education, scholars in the field began systematically studying the physics of movement, the physiology of exercise, the psychology of motor behavior and sport, and the social sciences of sport. Inevitably like-minded scholars formed sub-discipline scholarly societies to share ideas, theories, and research findings.
Academic departments in higher education spent agonizing years resolving how to accommodate the new emerging kinesiology discipline with their long-established physical education programs. Over the last 40 years many combinations of discipline and professional departments emerged, with almost as many names to describe these departments. Gradually the physical activity field better defined itself and kinesiology is becoming the consensus name for departments that focus on the study of physical activity and the education thereof. Through these tumultuous years no organization came forth to represent a united kinesiology. The long-established American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) was unable to accommodate the needs of the sub-discipline scholars as well as their own sub-discipline societies and thus AAHPERD saw an exodus of these scholars. The American College of Sports Medicine served the needs of exercise physiologists, but did not have as its mission to represent the other sub-disciplines. The National Association for Kinesiology and Physical Education in Higher Education (NAKPEHE) also was unable to become a strong voice for kinesiology as it remained focused mostly on physical education and only added “kinesiology” to its name in 2003. Consequently most kinesiologists discontinued membership in NAKPEHE and its membership declined from 1500 in 1976 to less than 300 in 2007.
The lack of a strong national association to represent kinesiology in academic, governmental, and public affairs has been and continues to be detrimental to the discipline. Kinesiology today consists of sub-discipline silos that serve their members well for the most part, but do not provide a strong national voice for kinesiology. Thus we are pleased to announce the formation of the American Kinesiology Association, now preparing to serve the maturing discipline of kinesiology.
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