Program Overview

PhD Recreation and Leisure Studies Program

The PhD program in Recreation and Leisure Studies is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the field, including its theoretical foundations, research methods, and practical applications.

Program Requirements

The normal requirements for the PhD program include coursework, milestones, comprehensive examinations, and a doctoral thesis.

Course Requirements

The PhD program requires a minimum of 9 graduate courses (0.5 unit weight) beyond the Honours BA level. These must include:

• REC 600, Integrative Seminar in Recreation and Leisure Studies (fall term)
• REC 700, Foundations of Knowledge in Leisure Studies (fall term)
• one of
  • REC 772, Quantitative Research Data Analysis and Interpretation (winter term)
  • REC 773, Designing Advanced Qualitative Inquiry (winter term)
  • or an equivalent Students entering the PhD program following completion of the MA degree in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies (University of Waterloo), or its equivalent, will usually have already completed 5 of the 9 required courses, and therefore will need a minimum of 4 additional (0.5 unit weight) graduate courses.

Milestone Requirements

The PhD program requires the completion of three milestones:

• Graduate academic integrity module
• PhD research seminar
  • This seminar is a forum for doctoral students, faculty, and invited guests to present topics related to their research or professional development.
• Research presentation
  • All PhD students in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies in their second year or later must deliver a public research presentation to faculty and students during their doctoral program.

Faculty Advisors/Supervisors

Students seeking admission to the PhD program should indicate in the letter of application who would be appropriate as a faculty advisor. Based on student and faculty research interests and availability, each student will be assigned an interim advisor when first admitted.

PhD Comprehensive Examinations

The purpose of the comprehensive examination in Recreation and Leisure Studies is to ensure doctoral candidates develop, engage, and synthesize the most useful relations among those bodies of knowledge, methodologies, theoretical frames, and substantive areas that best prepare them to take up teaching, scholarship, and service based on student interests, in collaboration with their supervisor and committee members.

PhD Thesis

A PhD thesis proposal is required of all PhD students after passing the comprehensive examinations, and before proceeding to data collection. The proposal should contain a detailed statement of the research problem and its significance for a body of leisure-related theory, a precise account of the methodology or research techniques to be employed, plus a detailed outline of the proposed data analyses.

Student Evaluation

A review of each student's progress takes place during the month of May each year. Students are evaluated on several criteria, i.e., coursework and resulting grades, progress with regard to the comprehensive examination and thesis work and, where appropriate, reports submitted by the students regarding their research and teaching assistantship activity. A grade average of at least 75% must be maintained.

Time Limits

The PhD program may be completed either on a full-time or part-time basis, but must be completed within the following time periods from completion of the MA degree unless an extension has been granted:

• Full-time - 12 terms
• Part-time - 18 terms

Graduate Student Resources

Important dates and deadlines, graduate studies academic calendar, graduate student handbook, forms, program checklists, and tuition and fees information are available to support graduate students in the PhD program.