The charge of a liberal arts education includes opportunities for intellectual, physical, and spiritual development; the offerings of the Department of Physical Education encourage physical well-being, cultivate leadership, and provide opportunities for collaboration.

Courses and activities are coeducational and introductory unless otherwise labeled. They are designed to instruct students in various lifetime physical recreative activities that will provide a foundation for a healthy, physically active lifestyle. Activities offered may emphasize one or more of the different components of physical fitness: cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, coordination, agility, learning skills of a sport/activity, weight loss and increase of lean body mass, and maintenance of good fitness.

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Physical education courses

Physical education courses emphasize physical activity and fitness components and are based on active participation, which allows the student to accrue the physical, social, and healthful benefits of the activity. Regular physical activity is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle – it prevents disease and enhances health and the quality of life. Students are encouraged to select an activity that will offer a new exposure, develop skills in an activity with which they are already familiar, or supplement a current fitness program.

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Activity Courses

Activity courses provide all students with an opportunity to build a foundation for a lifetime of enriched living. The department offers a diverse program of seasonal physical recreative activities in a setting of instructional physical education. Specialized courses in outdoor activities utilizing Maine’s natural resources as well as many traditional activities courses are available to all students.