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At Durham University, the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences is shifting the gears in how people perceive and approach physical activity.
Researchers studied how weightlifting is used by women to power through their recovery from eating disorders, unpacking the benefits of an “intuitive tracking” method with food and exercise. Recently, the department secured one million pounds (US$1.2 million) in funding for the Moving Social Work project; a collaboration with Disability Rights UK to train social workers on how to encourage physical activity with disabled people. A professor recently spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Radio Health about healthier ageing through physical activity, which incited a wider conversation with varying guests.
This being a busy, committed department, Durham is also top of the podium in the fight against health inequity and social justice – with students snagging literal medals too. One of them is a member of Great Britain’s formidable rowing squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Prior to that, she had walked away from the World Rowing Cup with a silver medal — using skills she honed through the University’s Boat Club. Three graduates made the Great Britain hockey teams for the 2024 Paris Olympics as well, in both men’s and women’s.
US Junior Men’s National Field Hockey player Dean Schiller was drawn to Durham for this very reason: its good balance between higher education and athletics. “I also had previous teammates from the US who had completed either master’s degrees or undergraduate degrees at Durham and had all spoken highly of the school and how they treat their international athletes,” he adds.
Gaining employable skills was an utmost priority when the MSc Physical Activity, Health, and Society was designed by the departments. Source: Durham University
With an ecosystem and student body as prolific as that, it’s a given that an education here not only ends with a degree, but also with a profound passion for sport, exercise, and their power to improve society. Pair that with world-leading academics and a cutting-edge facility valued at 30 million pounds, and your Master of Science (MSc) Physical Activity, Healthy, and Society will set you up for a high-impact career – just like it did for Schiller.
Completing the MSc meant researching the physiological factors that may affect the accuracy of wearable devices such as Garmins, Whoops, Fitbits, and the like. It spurred him to further investigate the devices and how to make them more accurate via a PhD.
“A significant factor that made me decide to remain at Durham was how closely we, as MSc students, worked with the staff in our departments,” he says. “Knowing that as a PhD student, they would likely be the people supervising our research helped to allow much more candid conversations regarding what is feasible in research and what direction they believe we should move in to have successful research.”
Whether they head to industry or further study, Durham’s MSc graduates stand out because their skills aren’t solely based on sport — it’s about people. It’s a known fact that physical activity is as nourishing for the mind as it is the body, but the programme takes it a step further. You’ll learn the physiological, psychological, social, and political standing of physical activity and society.
“We aimed to provide a cross-disciplinary foundation in which to study the role of physical activity in the optimal functioning of healthy societies,” says Dr. Kathleen Di Sebastiano, assistant professor. “To do this successfully, we knew that we needed to expose students to a variety of ways of thinking.”
With that goal in mind, the programme was uniquely developed in tandem with the Department of Anthropology — ranked 28th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024 — to deliver a multidisciplinary education which combines the expertise of both. The Department of Anthropology is one of the largest in the UK, and they’re the summoners of knowledge when it comes to the anthropology of health. They always bring fresh perspectives to the curriculum when students undergo their three mandatory courses and five optional courses.
Students in the MSc Physical Activity, Health, and Society have access to a newly designed research facility located at Green Lane in Durham. Source: Durham University
Whether they join the MSc full-time for a year or part-time over two years, students confront global issues concerning health equity and access. Fit for students with backgrounds in social sciences, natural science, anthropology, and humanities, the programme will upskill you through courses like anthropology of global health, planetary health in social context, and quantitative methods and analysis. At the end of your programme, you’ll dive into a topic of your choosing and complete an 8,000 to 10,000-word research dissertation, a culmination of everything you’ve learned.
“From policy, public health, and clinical initiatives to promote physical activity, through to the spaces and places which enhance, shape, and curtail movement, the programme considers how physical activity is situated in society,” Dr. Di Sebastiano says. “Through this nuanced understanding, students will prepare for the challenges of promoting physical activity and influencing policy in a global context.”
That’s why the MSc is designed with the full intention for you to strike gold with employers. According to Dr. Di Sebastiano, they sifted through “600 job postings and talked to numerous employers” to identify what makes a graduate desirable and discovered four skills: relationship building and collaborative working, persuasive and tactical communication skills, complex critical thinking and problem-solving, and targeted knowledge mobilisation and application.
With the MSc and these skills in hand, Durham graduates are now thriving in places like Save the Children, Concern Universal, and Durham’s Researcher Development Programme. They’re breaking barriers and making change happen through local and international health policy and governance. If you’d like to write your own success story at Durham, then apply to the MSc Physical Activity, Health, and Society programme today.
And if you should ever need advice from a thriving graduate and athlete, here’s what Schillerhas to share: “Don’t be intimidated to reach out to staff. Each of them is fully willing to help you in your studies and point you in the right direction if they do not have the capacity to help themselves. Your supervisors want you to succeed.”
