Tolga Ozyurtcu

Tolga Ozyurtcu, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin, where he serves as chair of the department’s Undergraduate Advisory Committee. At the Stark Center, Ozyurtcu supports Director Jan Todd in development efforts and collaborates with curator Kyle Martin on exhibit and event programming. Ozyurtcu holds a B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College, a M.Sc. in Sport Management from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Sport Studies, also from UT-Austin. His doctoral dissertation was a cultural history of the original Muscle Beach (1934-1958), in Santa Monica, California, titled Flex Marks The Spot.  He has served as a Dean’s Leadership Fellow in UT Austin’s College of Education and currently holds a UT Austin Provost’s Teaching Fellowship.  He is also a co-editor-in-chief of Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture.  Ozyurtcu teaches in the areas of Sport Management and Physical Culture and Sport Studies, including classes in the management of sport organizations, and the sociological, philosophical, and ethical aspects of sport and physical activity. Ozyurtcu’s research interests include sport development, sporting subcultures, sport and cultural geography, and physical culture history.  His work has been published in journals including the Journal of Sport History, The International Journal for The History of Sport, Aethlon: The Journal of Sport and Literature, and Iron Game History.