Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation

Photograph of the MIT athletic center exterior.

The Al '51 and Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center. (Photo courtesy of the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation.)


The mission of the MIT Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (DAPER) is to bring students, faculty, and staff together in educational activities that promote healthy lifestyles, enhance a sense of community, foster growth in leadership and teamwork skills, and encourage the pursuit of excellence.

The Physical Education program offers a wide variety of sports and activities, which fulfill MIT's General Institute Requirement. Annually we offer 50 different classes to more than 4000 participants. Our programs emphasize the importance of a balanced and healthy lifestyle, leadership, and team skills development in both outdoor and traditional activity classes.

All classes are taught by faculty coaches or certified specialists who bring a high level of expertise to each instructional area. The "mens et manus" motto of MIT is extended to "mens et manus et corpus" through attention to strengthening the body while developing the mind. Through Physical Education, students, faculty, staff, and alumni learn movement skills that contribute to lifelong fitness and take advantage of our innovative pedagogy.

Specifically, Physical Intelligence classes take an experiential approach to the investigation and application of our innate ability to learn physical skills. Philosophically, the curriculum is founded on the premise that physical education is more than strength training, flexibility and aerobic fitness; physical education is also the development of our ability to access and benefit from the physical intelligence of the human organism.


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Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Courses

Archived Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Courses

Some prior versions of courses listed above have been archived in OCW's DSpace@MIT repository for long-term access and preservation. Links to archived prior versions of a course may be found on that course's "Other Versions" tab.

Additionally, the Archived Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Courses page has links to every archived course from this department.