Andrew R. Meyer, PhD

Andrew R. Meyer (PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2010) Associate Professor of Sport Foundations. In 2017 he was named a Baylor Teaching Fellow when he adapted course work for his Religion and Sport course toward ‘forming character in the classroom.’ He has been a keynote speak at international conferences on sport and Christianity, and has been interviewed on NPR, the Sport, Faith, Life podcast, and The Living Church. His research examines the cultural interplay between athletes, contemporary sport culture and religious themes. More specifically, he examines how historical muscular Christian values and themes persist in contemporary American sport, developing the Contemporary Muscular Christian Instrument (2017; 2020) to analyze these themes in various sport settings and populations globally. More recently he has conducted research related to the role and meaning of basketball among Indigenous communities. His publication topic areas include religious interaction with mega sports events, cycling and the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong in sport media and redemption, contemporary sport ideology, and “for-cause” athletic culture. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Practical Theology, BMC Public Health, Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Religions, and The International Journal of Sport and Society, and has several book chapters related to sport and religion, sport history, and sports culture. 

Areas of Teaching Expertise: 

• Religion and Sport
• Character development in and through sport
• Historical and Philosophical foundations of sport and physical education
• Cultural Sport Psychology
• Sport Sociology
• Sport in the Social Context
• Sport in Contemporary Society 

Current Research Interests: 

• Contemporary American Sport Culture and Religion
• Traditional and Contemporary Indigenous Sport Culture
• Muscular Christianity
• Hero-Celebrity Athletes in Popular Culture 
• Character Development through Sport and Education 

Current Courses Taught: 

• HP 5370 Sport Psychology
• HP 4369 Sport Psychology
• HP 4396 Religion and Sport