Miguel Vicente Pedraz

Miguel Vicente Pedraz serves as Full Professor in the Department of Physical Education and Sports at the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports, University of León, Spain. His academic profile centers on the historical, philosophical, and sociological examination of physical education, with particular focus on the body's representation across cultural and educational contexts from medieval Spain to contemporary critical pedagogy.

He earned his Doctorate from the University of León in 1995 with the thesis The representation of the nobility in the imagined society of Don Juan Manuel the 'Book of States' in its context, supervised by Dr. F. Flecha Andrés and Dr. Pilar Sánchez Collado. This foundational work established his trajectory in analyzing historical discourses of bodily representation and educational power structures.

Prof. Pedraz's research investigates the history of physical education (especially 19th-century Spanish hygienic gymnasia), philosophy of embodiment, critical pedagogy, gender dynamics in sports, and discourse analysis of educational practices. His scholarship frequently bridges medieval literary studies with modern physical education theory, revealing how historical metaphors continue to shape contemporary practices. Key contributions include deconstructing organic body metaphors in Spanish Golden Age political literature and examining Josefa Amar's Enlightenment-era work on gendered body governance.

Analysis of his 2017-2022 publications reveals consistent methodological rigor through Foucauldian discourse analysis while traversing diverse contexts: from 19th-century Spanish hygienic gyms to modern competency-based curricula, Olympic Movement critiques in Franco-era Spain, and body diversity in contemporary dance. His work demonstrates how physical education functions as both a historical artifact and active site of ideological negotiation, particularly regarding gender, power, and bodily discipline.