Master of Arts in Sports Ethics and Integrity (MAiSI) Erasmus + Joint Master Degree

SEMESTER ONE: students to be based at KU Leuven

Sport as a Social Practice: Norms and values in sport, athlete welfare and safe sport; equality, diversity, and inclusion; moral psychology of sport; disability and Paralympic ethics.

The Nature of Sports Ethics and Ethical Theories: Deontological, consequentialist and virtue ethical theories; conventionalist, formalist and internalist theories of sport; key issues such as athletes’ rights, fair play and officiating, homophobia, transgender eligibility.

Ethics of Anti-doping and Sport Medicine: This covers all ethical aspects for anti-doping policy from its rationale to the implementation of the WADA code and other instruments, but also a critical consideration of the ethics of sports medicine more generally. Key issues for discussion include the whereabouts system and rights to privacy, strict liability, fairness and sanctioning, the Therapeutic Exemption process, as well as respect for the best interests of athlete patients, the goals of sports medicine, and the ethics of clinical decision making.

Sports law and integrity regulation provides a functional and integrated legal approach to sport, conceived as a social phenomenon with social, economic and cultural impact. Particular attention is paid to the unique nature of sports law, a combination of autonomous sports regulation and public regulation.. The course address:  Sources and principles of sports law; conflict resolution in sport; football labour market integrity; fair trial in dispute resolution; integrity, violence and non- discrimination; sports fraud, competition manipulation and macxh-fixing; the law of anti-doping.

SEMESTER TWO: students to be based at CUNI (Prague). Summer School at UoP (Olympia)

Sport Values, Fair Play and Integrity: prioritises the explicit development of philosophical and ethical thinking techniques, with discussions on the nature of sport (analytical approaches to the concept of sport and its values); sport rules (and their functions and characteristics); sport categorisations (especially with respect to issues of fairness and justice); and phenomenological understandings of the athlete as a human being. It also applies these theorisations to practical issues of education for sporting integrity.

Issues in Disabilities and Paralympic Sports covers the Rehabilitation – Education – Active Lifestyle – Elite Sports continuum, including an examination of the history of parasport as a part of rehabilitation. It explains the importance of recognising biomedical impairment types, and the role of adapted physical activities in the rehabilitation process. It also provides an understanding of elite para sport, its organizational structure, classification, and technologies; and considers associated ethical issues. The educational aspect of the parasport active lifestyle of athletes is also discussed, with field visits and practical activities.

Research Methods, Knowledge and Competencies: This module is held as part of the summer school and introduces students to the major techniques and methods of data capture in social scientific research. This includes questionnaire design and analysis, qualitative interview and focus group techniques. Students also take part in a “dissertation supermarket” talking with supervisors about potential areas of study for their Master thesis.