To most people, the words "physical education" evoke images of running laps, lifting weights or, at least, playing kickball. But at Dartmouth, students can fulfill their three-term P.E. requirement without breaking a sweat.
This term alone, students can receive P.E. credit for at least three non-athletic classes covering everything from alcoholism to ancient Chinese remedies. The P.E. and swimming proficiency requirements, which are approved by a vote of the faculty, are designed to give students skills beyond those learned in the classroom, especially in the areas of fitness and mental health.
The College offers the non-athletic classes Surviving the Dartmouth Experience, Learning at Dartmouth, Alcoholism and a Culture of Addiction, Peer Education Action Corps training and Health and Well-being with Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Athletic Department Director Dick Jaeger, a member of the class of 1959, said the definition of P.E. has expanded since his days as an undergraduate, when it was all "rock 'em, sock 'em intramurals."
"I think Dartmouth somewhere along the line developed a broad and liberal view by what is meant by 'physical education,'" Director of the Learning at Dartmouth course and Academic Skills Center Director Carl Thum said. "At other schools there is a wellness requirement -- what we'd traditionally consider physical education -- where you put on a swimsuit or go run. But they might have courses in dance, movement, nutrition. All kinds of things." He said Dartmouth has followed the lead of other schools.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton said there has been a movement over the past three or four years "to conceive physical education as a 'wellness'" program.
Thum said more than 50 freshmen enroll in the Learning at Dartmouth course each fall. The class is like an "extended orientation" period, introducing students to Career Services and the Tucker Foundation, as well as teaching them study strategies.
PEAC Training Director Bart Bingenheimer said the goal of the program is "to try to train students as health opinion leaders."
The program, which attracted about 45 students when it was first offered last fall, consists of about 30 hours of training including a retreat, Bingenheimer said.
Alcoholism and a Culture of Addiction, which meets twice per week, earns students two P.E. credits.
Physical Education Administrative Coordinator Rhonda Martin said the course is "like a classroom class" and demands outside work. It examines the relationship between alcohol use and the individual, and many students who take the class know someone with a dependency problem.
A new alternative P.E. course this term is Health and Well-being with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Martin said.
According to a physical education BlitzMail bulletin describing the class, it "includes traditional health maintenance and longevity practices that have been used over the centuries to promote vibrant health." The course is taught by Glenn Gurman, who runs a holistic health clinic in Vermont.
Students say the P.E. credits are an incentive to take classes they might not have taken otherwise.
Lauren Hickey '00, who underwent PEAC training for P.E. credit Fall term, said the P.E .credit was a definite incentive. Kenneth Fischl '00, who also trained for PEAC, said he "probably would not have done it if there was no P.E. credit."
But some students think the non-athletic classes are counter-productive.
"These types of programs seem to undermine the entire concept of a physical education," Freshman rower Jason Giordano said. "People are trying to avoid P.E. by other courses -- I see no reason for the requirement, then."
Cornell University requires all students to take two semesters of physical education. Cornell offers some low-activity classes like bowling and archery.
Cornell Physical Education Director Al Gantert said Cornell offers alternative courses, like massage, first aid, meditation and expanding awareness, which is "to try and get students connected with their intuitive senses." Cornell students must pass a swim test similar to Dartmouth's.
Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University have no physical education requirement.
