June 2019 Physical Education Conference Puts Adelphi in Global Spotlight

The Department of Health and Sport Sciences (HSS) has gone all out with a jam-packed schedule of sessions and presentations for the International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP) Conference, to be held June 19–June 22, 2019, on Adelphi’s Garden City campus.

Emilia Zarco, M.D., Adelphi’s local committee co-chair for the 2019 AIESEP Conference, said that as of Friday, June 7, 400 attendees from 36 countries have registered so far for AIESEP or pre-conference events. Dr. Zarco is also associate professor and chair of the Department of Health and Sport Sciences. The department was formerly known as the Department of Exercise Science, Health Studies, Physical Education and Sport Management.

The United States (118), Canada (28) and Europe are leading in terms of registrants. Germany (26) and Sweden (17) lead among the European contingent, while Australia (13) and Japan (10) top Asia’s attendees.

The conference will feature four keynote presentations, 14 symposiums, 22 roundtables, 84 poster presentations and 260 oral presentations. For a look at the AIESEP schedule, including pre-conference events, click here.

This is the third time Adelphi has played host to the AIESEP Conference—the last time being 1998—and much has changed about Adelphi and the Garden City campus since then. For one thing, the Nexus Building, the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center and the Center for Sports and Recreation did not exist then. Woodruff Hall has undergone renovations since then as well. And the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education was renamed the College of Education and Health Sciences.

Hosting the international conference—whose overall theme is “Building Bridges for Physical Activity and Sport”—adds another milestone to Adelphi’s leadership in the area of physical education/physical activity that started with the founding of the first professional organization now known as Society of Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) America, Dr. Zarco said.

Ron Feingold, Ph.D., HSS professor emeritus, said that Adelphi is the only university worldwide that has hosted the AIESEP Conference three times.

The conference is spearheaded at Adelphi by Dr. Zarco and Dr. Feingold, the local AIESEP organizing committee co-chairs, and Professor Sarah Doolittle, Ed.D., scientific committee chair, with the support of HSS faculty, staff and student volunteers.

Kicking off the conference will be Paul Wright, Ph.D. As the first keynoter on the morning of June 20, he will address the topic of “Examining the Intersection of Social and Emotional Learning with Physical Education and Youth Sport.”

That afternoon, keynoter Olajide Williams, M.D., will focus on “How to create, engage and amplify a health promotion program: The Hip Hop Public Health approach.”

On June 21, Katie Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., will discuss “What does HPE (Health and Physical Education) do for the world? Considering critical pedagogies and beyond.”

On June 22, the final keynote speaker will be Carla Luguetti, Ph.D., addressing the subject “Towards a pedagogy of love: Exploring people’s experiences of an activist sport pedagogical model.”

Hip Hop Public Health—secured for the conference by its executive director/CEO, Lori Rose Benson, M.A. ’99, who is also HSS adjunct faculty—will provide the opening ceremony entertainment on the evening of June 19. The goal: to engage attendees with some hip-hop music and dance that deliver public health messages. That organization was founded by Dr. Williams, nicknamed the “Hip Hop Doc.”

In addition, AIESEP will offer various pre-conference events on June 17–June 19:

• Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) Alliance Annual Conference, June 17–June 19
• The National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE) Department Head Certification Training (DHCT) on June 17
• Leadership Development Workshop (LDW), June 17–June 18, and three AIESEP Special Interest Groups (SIGs): Early Years, Social Justice and Research Seminar for Young Scholars and a TPSR course for credit and noncredit

Adelphi President Christine M. Riordan, Ph.D., and Provost and Executive Vice President Steve Everett, D.M.A., are featured guest speakers for the DHCT.

HSS faculty presenters during AIESEP or pre-conference events will be: Meredith Whitley, Ph.D., hosting a symposium on “Engineering Sports to Enhance Holistic Development in New York City,” as well as Anne Gibbone, Ed.D., Ellen Kowalski, Ph.D., Kevin Mercier, Ed.D., Paul Rukavina, Ph.D., and Dr. Zarco.