REC 120 Leisure an the
Quality of Life
Fall 2003 (CLCC 106 from
Dr.
S121
Phone: 543-6617 Thursday
–
Fax: 543-6612 Or by appointment
E-mail: rgitelson@asu.edu
Office hours: Appointments can be made for either the scheduled office hours or for other times by calling me or scheduling an appointment during class time. An excellent way to get an answer to a question is to send me an e-mail since I check my e-mails every day.
Please keep the syllabus as it describes class policies that may relate to a decision you make regarding class attendance or class assignments. If you have any questions about the syllabus, let me know. The syllabus is a contract between us. I will not add any assignments that will affect your grade, but I will hold you responsible for reading the syllabus and following the directions.
IMPORTANT: You will be required to put
your assignments on Blackboard (and bring a hard copy to class). There will be times when Blackboard will not
be working. If that is the case, in
order to avoid the late penalty, you must e-mail the assignment to me as an
attachment before the time that it is due.
If this happens, points will not
be given until it is posted to the correct forum on Blackboard, but it will not
be penalized for being late.
Course Description: Conceptual foundations for understanding the role of leisure in quality of life, socially, historically, psychologically, culturally, economically, and politically. General studies: SB.
Course
Goal
Upon successful completion of this course, students should have a basic understanding of the role that leisure plays in our society and in their lives.
Introduction
to the course
I will make a wild guess that there are things
you would rather be doing now than reading this syllabus. You are not alone. If I had my choice, instead of working, I
would love to be playing softball or reading a mystery or playing basketball
with my daughter. I would love to be
spending time in some exotic place or eating in a great restaurant or watching
my daughter, dive in one of her competitions.
This
course is about those things in your life that you chose to do because you
enjoy them and want to do them. Could
that include work? While I hope that you
find work that fits this definition, this course will deal primarily with
non-work activities. Of course the line
blurs when you play a computer game on your computer at work.
We
will begin the course by trying to come up with some definitions we can agree
on, but you will learn quickly that this is not an easy task. We will then explore the role that leisure
and recreation play in your lives and in society. We will also explore why not all individuals
seem to have the same opportunities.
Learning Objectives: After taking this course, you should be able to discuss the following:
1)
The meaning
of various terms including leisure, recreation, play, work, and flow.
2)
How leisure
behavior has evolved over time.
3)
The role of
leisure in an individual’s life and the constraints that impact leisure.
4)
The role
leisure plays in religion, lifestyles, life stages, and socio-economic status.
5)
The impact
that gender, ethnicity, religion, race, age, economic status, sexual
orientation, location, culture, norms, peers and society has on leisure
behavior.
6)
The impact
of leisure on an individual’s health.
7)
The leisure
service delivery system and the issues related to each type of provider.
8)
Issues
associated with the future of leisure.
Class text: John Kelly and Valeria Freysinger, 21st Century Leisure: Current issues, Allyn and Bacon:
Class
attendance - It is important that you make every effort possible to attend
class. If you must miss a class, you are responsible for any information
shared in class. You are expected to
make arrangements so that work or personal obligations do not cause an
absence. Class absences may affect your
final grade since the exams are based on information presented by me, class
speakers and information provided by other students in class. If you miss no class time during the
semester, you will receive four bonus points.
If you miss only one class, you will receive 3 bonus points, and if you
miss only two classes, you will receive two bonus points. Missing the first exam counts as an absence.
Course requirements (All assignments are due at the beginning of the relevant class)
1. Two exams:
(10 Points) First exam – October 16th
(10 Points) Second exam – December 11th at
2. Career investigation –
5
(Points) Part A: Job choice and information on person to be interviewed –
(5
Points) Part B: Write-up of your interview –
3. Exercises
(5 Points) Exercise
A – The meaning of leisure (Due August 28th at
(5 Points) Exercise
B – Comparing activities (Due September 2nd at
(5 Points) Exercise
C – Leisure Activity Journal (Due
September 15th at
(5 Points) Exercise
D – Accessibility (Due November 11th
at
(5 Points) Exercise
E – Hiking experience (Due November 3rd at
Exercise F – The movies
(5 Points) Cocoon
(Due October 2nd
(5 Points) A League
of their Own (Due October 14th at
(5 Points) Breaking Away (Due October 21st)
(5 Points) Chariots of Fire (Due October 28th)
(5 Points) A River Runs Through It (Due November 20th)
(5 Points) Exercise G – Poster Session (Due
December 1st at
4. (15 Points) Debates (Paper is due
via Drop Box December 2nd at
Make hard copies of all assignments and
keep in a loose spiral notebook (half inch should do). Please bring the binder to class.
Exams
First Exam
The mid-term will cover both the readings and class discussions. You will be responsible for material covered through the class period before the mid-term. This will be a closed book exam. There will be matching, multiple choice and short answer questions.
If you miss the mid-term, then you will be required to take the make-up immediately following the completion of your final exam. The only exception to this will be if you have an exam immediately following our final.
Final Exam
The final will cover readings and class
discussions not covered on the first exam.
This will be a closed book exam.
There will be matching, multiple choice and short answer questions.
Career
investigation
You are to choose a job in the tourism or leisure/recreation
field that you would like to have or think would be great to have even if you
don’t want it. Before you go too wild,
you must find someone who currently is in that job or did it in the recent past
who will discuss the job with you.
Part A: Job choice and information on person to be interviewed.
The information must include 1) their name, 2) position, 3) organization, 4) number of years the person has been in the job and 5) contact information, including address and phone number. Only one person may interview a specific person. If there are two or more individuals who claim the same person, only the first person to post the individual’s information will be allowed to do the interview with that individual. Thus, I would not wait till the last minute to do this and I would ask if someone has already approached the individual you want to interview.
Part B: Write-up of your interview.
In addition to the following questions, you must also come up with three questions of your own that are specific to the position held by the interviewee. Number the responses in your write-up. At the beginning of your write-up, repeat the information you gathered in Part A.
1. The education, skills, requirements for having the job. How hard it was to meet these requirements? Competition for this type of job.
2. What was the career path that led this person to this job?
3. What are the good parts about having this job?
4. What are the parts that are not so good? Why?
5. What is the salary range for this position and what is the benefit package that goes with this type of job?
Exercises
Exercise A: The meaning of leisure
Select two people (one must be a male and one must be a female – ages between 19 and 30). You are to ask each of them the following questions:
1) What does leisure mean to them? Get them to provide a definition.
2) Ask them to indicate whether they feel recreation is different than leisure. Have them explain why or why not
3) What role does leisure/recreation play in their lives?
4) What are their three favorite leisure/recreation activities (Only list three for each)
5) With whom do they do each of these activities?
6) What do they consider the benefits they get from each of these activities?
7) Do they have reasons that keep them from doing their activities more than they would like to? If so, what are these constraints?
You are to describe each interviewee’s answers separately. Provide background information, i.e. their gender, age, ethnicity, education status, what they currently do and other factors you believe are relevant in describing their leisure behavior. Then list the questions and describe their answers for each one.
Exercise B Comparing activities.
You are to read the entries of 4 other
students in class. Indicate the names of
the other students you used for this assignment. The assignment is to be based on those 4
entries plus your own.
You are to answer the following questions.
1)
Are there
differences in the specific activities that are listed? Explain using examples.
2)
Create up
to six categories to group the activities that are listed. Indicate what these categories are and what
you included in each category.
3)
Were there
activities that did not fit neatly into any of these categories? If so, what were they and why did you feel
they didn’t fit?
4)
Now, using
the categories, were there differences between the respondents based on their
gender?
Exercise C: Leisure Activity Journal
The purpose of this exercise is to gain a better understanding of your leisure/recreation activities. You will keep this journal for one week (seven consecutive days beginning September 8th and ending September 14th).
At the end of each day, record the following
1) List the date and each activity you did that day that you considered recreation/leisure (list no more than three activities – criteria to use if you did more than three activities is first, the importance of the activity to you, and second, the amount of time spent on that activity if all activities were of equal importance). If you listed less than three, indicate what kept you from engaging in leisure activities. Do not list activities such as drug use that would be considered illegal and do not list sexual activities (these are considered personal and not for public discussion).
2) For each activity you list,
a) record the amount of time you spent doing it,
b) indicate who you did the activity with,
c) indicate how much money you spent on the activity,
d) specify where you did the activity,
e) describe whether the activity turned out as expected – if not, why not?
f) describe anything that happened out of the ordinary and how it impacted the activity.
Read the diaries of six other students (at least three female and three male). Indicate the six students you chose. Compare your experiences with them in terms of each question that was asked. Are there differences based on gender?
Exercise D: Accessibility
List a favorite leisure activity where the resource for doing that activity is provided by someone else. For example, if I want to bowl, I must go to a local bowling alley or if I want to play softball, I go to the softball field at the Rose Mofford Softball Complex. Chose an activity where the resource is provided by someone in the valley where you can visit as part of this assignment?
Describe any problems you might have taking part in your activity at this establishment for each of the following conditions 1) you are confined to a wheelchair, 2) you are blind, 3) you are extremely poor.. Be sure to start with the parking facilities, access to the building, bathrooms (check out the stalls), tables, amount of room to maneuver in the facility, and anything else that might be a constraint for you. Find out if any accommodations have been made for each of the conditions that I’ve listed. What would be your overall feelings if you were to visit this place with one of these conditions?
Exercise E: Description of hiking experience
You are to go hiking with at least one
other student from this class (you may go with as many as three other
students). The choice of where you will
hike must be cleared with me in advance (An example would be
1. Describe your previous experience with hiking.
2. Did you consider the hiking experience for class a leisure experience? Why or why not?
3. What did you like about the hike?
4. What did you not like about the hike?
5. Did anything unexpected happen? If so, how did it impact the experience?
6. Were there other hikers along the trail? How did it affect your experience? Explain.
Exercise F: Movies.
You will be asked to watch five movies that help illustrate issues related to this class. The movies will be on reserve in the library. The check out policy will be announced in class and posted on Blackboard. The specific questions for each film will be posted on Blackboard.
The specific assignment for each movie will be placed on Blackboard.
Exercise G: ASU West Faculty Poster Session
The poster session is a collection of posters describing research that has been conducted by faculty members at ASU West. It will provide an example of the types of research being conducted by ASU West faculty. Chose 4 of the posters that you feel have the most relevance to REC 120. For each, describe how the research relates to issues we have discussed in the class.
You may either visit the poster session on Thursday,
October 9th from
Debates
You will be assigned to a debate
team. You will need to research your
topic and write a position paper on the topic (in the paper, you will address both
the pros and the cons). You will then be
required to take part in the debate on your topic. You will be assigned your side of the
debate. Details for the debate will be
posted in Blackboard and discussed in class.
The paper must use a minimum of six outside sources (at least three of
which were found in the library).
The debate topics include the following:
1) Should casino gambling be allowed in
2) Should so-called recreational drugs
(mariauna, ectasy, etc.) be legalized in the
3) Does excessive violence on TV and in video games affect the behavior of children?
4) Should Title IX be abolished or revised drastically?
5) Should pornography be allowed?
6) Should individuals be allowed to download songs off the Web using programs such as KaZaa?
7) Should smoking be banned in bars and eating establishments?
Class expectations
It is important that we all work together to establish a
positive classroom environment that is conducive for earning. I expect students to be willing to listen to
other points of view and be respectful of alternative viewpoints. I expect that students will show respect for
our speakers who are taking time from their work schedules to speak to the class
and while other students are taking part in class discussion. Obviously, during class, I expect your
attention to be on the class proceedings.
This includes not reading other material during class such as newspapers
or magazines. I expect students to be on
time for class, to get back from any breaks on time and to stay for the end of
class. I realize that this will not
always be possible and would like to know if you have outside obligations that
will make you miss some of the class.
Please turn off your pagers, cell
phones, etc. in class. If you need to
keep them on in class, let me know in advance so I won’t be so startled when
they go off.
Students
should familiarize themselves with the Academic Integrity Policy as outlined in
the most current ASU West Student Handbook.
This policy details those behaviors considered to be violations of
academic integrity (e.g., cheating, plagiarism) and provides guidelines as to
the imposition of various sanctions, including a reduction in grade,
suspension, and expulsion.
Late Policy
A 10%
penalty will be assessed if an assignment or paper is late. An additional 10% penalty will be taken off
for each additional day the assignment is not turned in. The maximum deduction will be 40% of the
potential points. Late assignments may
be handed in before
For
example, if an assignment is worth 10 points, then the maximum you can earn if
it’s turned in within 24 hours of the time it is due is 9 points. If it’s late another day, the maximum would
be 8 points, etc.
Nearly
all assignments are due on Blackboard, so you take a chance if you wait until
the last minute. There are many things
that can go wrong, such as blackboard being down or the dog eating your
assignment. In the case of Blackboard
being down, you should send the assignment as an attachment via e-mail to me to
document that it is completed and then get it on blackboard as soon as
possible. There is no relief if the dog ate
it, so be sure your dog is well fed. And
no points will be awarded until the assignment has been posted on Blackboard.
Course evaluation (see syllabus for dates when assignments are due):
Grade distribution
A -- (90-100) The student has done what is considered excellent work in all phases of the course and has done more than the minimum required.
B -- (80-89) Overall, the student has done good work in all phases of the course. The student has done more than the minimum required.
C -- (70-79) Overall, the student has done an adequate job. In most cases, the student would have done the minimum that was required in an acceptable manner.
D -- (60-69) Overall, the student has done enough to pass the course, but has done less than the minimum that was expected of each student.
Class Calendar: Class
topics, reading assignments
All assignments that must be turned in have late
penalties if not turned in at the appropriate time.
This is a tentative schedule of how we will proceed. The purpose is to give you an overview of the topics we will discuss. If some topics take more time than anticipated or we decide to discuss additional topics, we will revise the schedule as needed.
|
Aug. 26 |
Class
introduction and overview to the class
Syllabus Student profile top
10 things you would rather be doing |
|
Aug 28 |
No class -
Assignment A due at |
|
Sept 2 |
Chapter 1 is due: the wide variety of what is
considered leisure/recreation Discussion of Assignments A and B (Bring your binder with a copy of your
assignments to class – one point penalty for not having it from each
assignment not brought to class) |
|
Sept 4 |
Chapter 2 is due: so what are we studying and why are
we studying it? Be sure to bring your
binders with you. |
|
Sept 9 |
Chapter
3: Leisure up till the industrial revolution – or why Enimem would not have
played well among the Victorians |
|
Sept 11 |
Chapter 4: Leisure after the industrial
revolution – why is work such a drag? |
|
Sept 16 |
Chapter
5: consumerism and leisure behavior –
75s, 45s, vinyl, tape, CDs, Digital, so what is wrong with using KaZaa to get
a few good songs? |
|
Sept 18 |
Chapter 6:
Leisure Styles and Life Styles: So
would you qualify for the old TV show called “Lifestyles of the Rich and
Famous”? If not, what lifestyle would
you qualify for? |
|
Sept 23 |
Chapter 8 Society and Leisure – Why you
play basketball instead of cricket |
|
Sept 25 |
No class –
movie time |
|
Sept 30 |
Chapter 9
– Leisure and the life course – Would you like to be 12 again? |
|
Oct 2 |
Chapter 10 – Leisure and aging – will it be
fun to grow old? Discussion of the movie “Cocoon” |
|
Oct 7 |
Chapter 11 – The economics of leisure:
Playing is big business |
|
Oct 9 |
Chapter 12– Politics and Policy: Who are they to tell us what to do? Chapter 17 –
The other side of leisure, but it sure sounds like fun |
|
Oct 14 |
Chapter
13: Boys will be boys and girls will be girls, right? Discussion
of video: “A league of their own” |
|
Oct 16 |
First Exam
– covers material through October 9th |
|
Oct 21 |
Chapter 15:
Ethnicity, Race, and Social Class – is leisure an equal opportunity
employer Discussion of movie “Breaking
Away” |
|
Oct 23 |
Chapter 16:
Popular Culture and Mass Media – does art imitate life or is it the other way
around? |
|
Oct 28 |
Chapter 18 – Sport – why can’t I play
football at 70? Discussion
of Movie “Chariots of Fire” |
|
Oct 30 |
Chapter 19 –
the arts. Assignment: You must attend
one play. |
|
Nov 4 |
Chapter 20:
Outdoor Recreation – isn’t it fun in 110 degrees to go jogging. Assignment:
With at least one other person in class, go on a hike in one of our
parks. |
|
Nov 6 |
Chapter 21:
Recreation |
|
Nov 11 |
No Class |
|
Nov 13 |
Chapter 22:
Travel and tourism – big bucks but at what price. Describe the best road trip and worse road
trip you have ever taken. |
|
Nov 18 |
Chapter 14: Sexuality and Leisure – You
don’t want to miss this class! |
|
Nov 20 |
Work on debates |
|
Nov 25 |
Chapter 7 Experiences of leisure: how specialized are you? Discussion of the movie “A river runs through it” |
|
Dec 2 |
Discussion of
Poster Session and Career Investigation |
|
Dec 4 |
Debates |
|
Dec 9 |
Debates continued. |
|
Dec 11 |
Final exam – |
Personal profile
Name ____________________________________
E-mail __________________________
Number of hours you expect to work each week during the semester? ______
Number of credits you are taking this semester? ______
Number of other hours that are committed to specific activities during the week not related to your work or school? ______ What are these commitments? _________________________
List the 10 things you would like to be doing instead of being here in class.