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How far will your next steps take you?
Apply NowThrough distinctive teaching, research, and outreach the Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management (THEM) seeks to improve the understanding of social, psychosocial and environmental factors that lead individuals, families and industry to value and benefit from tourism, events and recreation, and thereby improve quality of life. Further, the department aims to provide knowledge that helps communities and organizations develop and improve sustainable tourism, recreation, and environmental opportunities including parks, beaches and public areas that benefit an increasingly diverse population.
The Recreation, Parks and Tourism concentration is available to our Ph.D. students.
THEM houses internationally recognized experts in the areas of sustainable tourism, crisis management, risk management, water-based recreation, hospitality marketing, social impacts of tourism, social networks, data-mining, and economic impact related to events.
Graduate Faculty
During the application process, please look through the of individual faculty members and directly contact those who you would be interested in working with. An individual faculty member MUST accept Ph.D. applicants prior to admission, which is decided by the THEM faculty body.
Up to 30 approved credit hours may be transferred in from a Master's degree earned at another institution, except if the coursework was completed more than seven years prior, which do not qualify. All courses transferred must be graduate level and letter-graded with a grade of B or better. Courses must also be directly related to the PhD degree. Transfer requests are made to the Graduate School through petition by the student’s supervisory committee.
A student may petition for coursework taken more than seven years prior to apply to their doctorate. THe student must meet with their mentor to review such coursework. Students may be asked to provide syllabi, books, and papers from these courses. The advisor will make a recommendation to the graduate coordinator and program assistant who will petition the Graduate School. The final decision rests with the Graduate School.
Students will work closely with their faculty advisor to determine course selection, an individual development plan (IDP), and timeline for academic milestones. Curriculum includes core Departmental, College, and University course requirements and recommended courses. Doctoral students must pass a comprehensive written and oral qualifying examination upon completion of all coursework, maintain a satisfactory academic record, submit an approved dissertation topic, and receive the supervisory committee’s opinion of ability for advancement to candidacy. Upon completion of the dissertation, the student must successfully complete an oral examination pertaining to the dissertation research.
The Ph.D. degree requires at least 90 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree. All master degree credits that are counted towards the PhD must have been earned in the last 7 years. The supervisory committee is responsible for using established criteria to ensure the academic integrity of coursework before accepting graduate transfer credits. Acceptance of transfer credits requires approval of the student’s supervisory committee and the Dean of the Graduate School.
Our students have gone amazing places within the tourism, hospitality, and event industries. See how far they've traveled since they graduated.
Alumni Career Spotlights Forward Momentum
Prior to her teaching career, Dr. Fu spent years working for a variety of tourism & hospitality businesses. She uses this industry experience to guide the direction of the THEM department, as well as provide her students with insight that goes beyond the textbook. Dr. Fu has published more than 188 papers, and her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Recommend Magazine, and UF News.
Dr. Gibson teaches classes in leisure and tourism theory, and sport tourism. She also leads study abroad programs in Australia and Fiji with a focus on sustainability. She has published over 60 academic journal articles and has 20 years of academic research presentations. She has edited two books: Sport Tourism: Concepts and Theories, and Leisure and Aging: Theory and Practice.
Dr. Kirilenko currently teaches classes ion research methods and data analytics. He is increasingly involved in multidisciplinary studies, which include scholars in both natural and social sciences such as political and tourism research including analyzing data from social networks such as Twitter. He is currently compiling social media databases on other a variety of subjects including environmental effects on tourism and risk management.
Prior to her teaching career, Dr. Fu spent years working for a variety of tourism & hospitality businesses. She uses this industry experience to guide the direction of the THEM department, as well as provide her students with insight that goes beyond the textbook. Dr. Fu has published more than 188 papers, and her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Recommend Magazine, and UF News.
looking for information on qualifying exams, admission to candidacy, dissertation, and graduation requirements? Head on over to our Resources for Current PhD Student Page.
Our goal is to expose students to the future of the industry, while exposing businesses to the future leaders of it. From in-class event planning, to hotel management simulation labs, and 600 hours of industry exposure, we ensure our students have the experiences they need to go amazing places with their career.
Interested in changing majors, adding a minor, or a certificate?
We've got you covered.