This engaging and informative text will hold the attention of students and scholars as they take a journey through time to understand the role that history and philosophy have played in shaping the course of sport and physical education in Western and selected non-Western civilizations.

Using appropriate theoretical and interpretive frameworks, students will investigate topics such as the historical relationship between mind and body; what philosophers and intellectuals have said about the body as a source of knowledge; educational philosophy and the value of physical education and/or sport; philosophical positions that have impacted the historical development of sport and physical education; the history of women in sport and physical education; the role and scope of sport and physical education in Ancient Greece and Rome; the Ancient Olympic Games; the relationship between sport and religion in ancient and modern times; the theoretical and professional development of physical education; the rise of sport in modern America; the history and politics of the modern Olympic Games; and the contributions of men, women, and social movements to the development of sport and physical education from ancient times to the modern era.

Robert Mechikoff is a Professor in the Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at San Diego State University where he has taught history of sport and philosophy courses since 1981. He received his BA in Political Science from Long Beach State University as well as his MA in Physical Education. Professor Mechikoff earned his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University where he studied history and philosophy. He coached football and swimming at both the high school and college level.Professor Mechikoff is an internationally recognized scholar, conducting extensive research and lecturing in the history and philosophy of the Ancient and Modern Olympic Games all over the world. He is a member of The Olympic Family, The International Society of Olympic Historians, and has served as Supervising Professor at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece on more then once occasion where he taught philosophy to graduate students from 25 different countries. In 1982, Professor Mechikoff served as Founding President and CEO of USA Volleyball (Mens Team). The U.S. Olympic Mens Team won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympiad. He is a frequent lecturer at the British Olympic Academy and numerous Olympic Academys and Universities around the world. His interest in sport in antiquity, especially Greek athletics, is evident in his latest research. Since 2002 Professor Mechikoff has assisted in the work being conducted at the archeological site in Ancient Nemea, one of the four great athletic festivals of ancient Greece. He is a frequent visitor to the Olympic Museum and Studies Center in Lausanne, Switzerland and knows many members of the International Olympic Committee on a personal basis. Because of his international reputation as an Olympic Scholar, the International Olympic Committee awarded him the title of “Distinguished Guest of the IOC” during the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. He is one of the few Kinesiology / Physical Education Professors who can (albeit with difficulty), translate ancient Greek from their original sources. He speaksand reads French, Modern Greek, Spanish, and Russian; one day he hopes to actually be able to understand what the French, Greek, Spanish, and Russians are saying to him. In addition to his scholarly contributions in history and philosophy, Professor Mechikoff has published several texts in sport psychology as well as an introduction to kinesiology text. He is frequently sought out by the media to share his expertise on issues pertaining to ethics in sport, fan and coaching behavior, sport history, and the Olympics. He enjoys lecturing in North America as well as abroad.

Section I Ancient Civilizations

1. History and Philosophy in Sport and Physical Education

2. Sumer, Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica

3. Greece

4. Rome

Section II From the Spiritual World to the Secular World: Changing Concepts of the Body

5. Philosophy, Sport, and Physical Education During the Middle Ages: 900-1400

6. The Renaissance and the Reformation: 1300-1600

7. The Age of Science and the Enlightenment: 1560-1789

8. Philosophical Positions of the Body and the Development of Physical Education: Contributions of the Germans, Swedes, and Danes in Nineteenth-Century Europe

Section III The Theoretical and Professional Development of American Physical Education

9. The Impact of Science and the Concepts of Health on the Theoretical and Professional Development of American Physical Education, 1885-1930

10. The Transformation of Physical Education: 1900-1939

Section IV Historical and Philosophical Development of Sport in America

11. Sport in the Colonial Period

12. Changing Concepts of the Body: An Overview of Sport and Play in Nineteenth-Century America

13. Sport in the Twentieth Century

Section V A Social and Political History of the Modern Olympic Games

14. Pioneers and Progress: 1896-1936

15. The Cold War Olympics: 1948-1988

16. After the Cold War: 1992-2004