Professor Jen Light’s New Class Featured by MIT Division of Student Life – “Stretching Minds and Bodies: MIT Students Learn Why Exercise is Medicine”

By Sarah Foote

Exercise is Medicine class integrates physical activity and academics 

We’ve known since ancient times that physical activity can prevent and treat a broad range of mental and physical illnesses. Even today, exercise is not a central focus of modern healthcare systems. But why? This is the motivating question behind MIT’s Exercise is Medicine: From Ancient Civilizations to Modern Healthcare Systems (STS.041/PE&W.0537) class – a collaboration between the MIT Program on Science, Technology, and Society (STS) and the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER).

Going beyond the MIT tradition of hands-on learning, Exercise is Medicine (EIM) offers full-body experiential education, combining readings, lectures, and physical activity at the Zesiger Center and on MIT’s playing fields. Students investigate topics including barriers to exercise, loneliness as a public health issue, and social determinants of health through partner acrobatics, Broomball, and sailing. During midterm week, they reflect on the mental health impact of activities, including meditation and pickleball. They also learn about the principles of traditional Chinese medicine through Qigong.

Co-taught by Professors Jennifer Light and Carrie Moore, in addition to other DAPER instructors, EIM was first offered in the spring of 2024 for 20 undergraduates. Students from every major are invited to enroll—the next offering filled quickly, doubling in size to 40 students, with a long waitlist.

Exercise is Medicine is one of three courses Light and Moore offer as part of the MIT Project on Embodied Education, launched in 2022. Professor Light was eager to create an academic class where students spent at least 50 percent of their learning time out of their seats doing a physical activity that reinforced the academic objectives she was presenting.

“I was developing a new research project on the ancient wisdom and modern science of movement and learning, and was looking to develop courses that put this method into practice. Through Anthony Grant, athletic director and head of the DAPER, I connected with Carrie. We are having so much fun collaborating; one course quickly became two and now three,” says Light.

History of medicine and health systems courses have long been a staple of the STS program. In EIM, students visit with MIT Chief Health Officer Dr. Cecelia Stuopis, who offers insight into the place of exercise in healthcare throughout the history of the Institute. Discussions also include the economic factors that may impact ideas and innovations from STEM fields.

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