SOCI3751: Leisure Studies

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• To explore the role of leisure in contemporary society(ies), and to provide students with an understanding of:
• The major theories, issues, and debates that relate to the study and practice of leisure.
• The politics, philosophy and history of leisure and its paradoxical construction as both promise and problem at different periods, for different groups, and from different perspectives.
• The role and (de)valuing of leisure in different societies.
• The links between leisure and other topics of sociological and criminological concerns including: work, citizenship, community, family, health, welfare provision, globalisation, deviance, sub-cultures, and popular culture.
• Different forms of leisure activities, including idleness, play, sport (including E-sports), consumption, and the leisure industry/workforce.
• Intersectional inequalities and processes of in/exclusion in access to and benefit from different types of leisure and processes of privatisation and commodification of leisure pursuits, activities and events.
• Processes and acts of resistance relating to leisure, including slow movements, the right to be lazy, non-participation, and so on.
• Contemporary debates, challenges, and tensions in relation to leisure and work practices, especially amongst young people, including the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and phenomena such as: quiet quitting, lazy girl jobs, hustle culture, the grindset, and so on.
• Forms of deviant or transgressive leisure and the policing and regulation of certain forms of leisure.

• Content
• Term 1:
• Introduction, module overview and module approach.
• Key texts, theories and concepts associated with leisure studies. These will include discussions and sessions on the history, philosophy and practice of leisure, drawing on examples from across the globe.
• Links between leisure and other topics of sociological concern, such as work, welfare, health, community, deviance, and so on, across different locations.
• Sessions on specific types of leisure, including, for example, sleep, idleness, sport, play, serious leisure (such as amateur but competitive triathletes, Etsy or Vinted entrepreneurs, Instagram influencers, home brew enthusiasts, and so on), and/or deviant or transgressive leisure (such as drug-taking, slum tourism, or graffiti for example).
• Term 2:
• Examination of a small number of contemporary case studies relating to leisure, and its potential for resistance and challenges to dominant social norms, potentially including:
• - Leisure and intersectional inequalities
• - Leisure, resistance, and contemporary work practices
• - Leisure and the promise/threat of AI and environmental consequences
• - Leisure and technology: always available or switching off, and tracking technologies and fitness wearables
• - Leisure and welfare: active citizenship, service user involvement, active labour market policies and productivist welfare capitalism
• - Critical perspectives on leisure and wellbeing industries
• - Leisure, pollution, and the climate crisis
• - Deviant/transgressive leisure, and the policing and surveillance of leisure
• - Slow movements (slow food, slow university/scholarship, slow travel/tourism, etc.)
• - Covid-19 and post-covid societies and leisure
• Precise topics, themes, and content in term 2 will be discussed and agreed with/instigated by students.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• understand and be able to contribute to major theories, issues, and debates that relate to the study and practice of leisure.
• be familiar with the politics, philosophy and history of leisure and some of the perspectives and arguments relating to leisure at different times/places.
• understand and reflect on the links and relations between leisure and other area of sociological inquiry and concern, such as work, health, inequalities, power, community and so on.
• understand how leisure relates to and can contribute to discussions and debates relating to contemporary social challenges, such as the climate crisis, changes in working conditions, and health inequalities.
• understand intersectional challenges and inequalities relating to access of leisure opportunities and processes of exclusion and marginalisation within leisure provision, across different locations.
• understand the potential radical role(s) of leisure in relation to resisting and challenging dominant and often problematic (and gendered and racialised) social norms, structures, processes, and practices, and offering alternatives to existing practices.

Subject-specific Skills:

• be able to apply key concepts and theories to the understanding of leisure-related topics in contemporary societies, across the globe.
• be able to locate the concept of leisure in debates relating to contemporary social challenges and articulate the role it can play in addressing some of these challenges.
• be able to follow and critique changes and trends in the construction of different leisure practices, the provision of leisure and opportunities to pursue leisure, and to understand the sociological drivers and implications of these changes.
• be able to adopt a critical stance towards dominant work and education practices, and to understand the potential of alternative approaches.
• be able to apply knowledge and learning from the module to specific leisure practices and/or issues, and to critically analyse these.

Key Skills:

• be able to evaluate critically evidence and ideas, especially in relation to dominant social norms and expectations surrounding work and education.
• be able to consider issues such as leisure which are often on the margins of debates about contemporary social challenges and to introduce these issues, including international perspectives on leisure, to the discussions.
• be able to communicate leisure-related issues to specialist and non-specialist audiences, through both formal and informal means.
• demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
• work autonomously and collectively in planning and allocating tasks, exercising initiative and demonstrating both personal and collective responsibility.
• be able to continue to advance their knowledge and understanding, recognising that education for its own sake is a valid leisure activity.

• The design and delivery of the module reflects and aligns with the content and ethos of the module, with an emphasis on handing power to students, being as inclusive as possible, and flipping the classroom.
• Learning materials will consist of a combination of traditional academic texts and resources and low theory contributions from popular culture, leisure activities, and non-academic sources.
• Fifteen two-hour long semi-structured workshops (30 contact hours) spread across two terms will allow appropriately paced, in-depth discussion and consideration of topics, collaborative work and short student-led activities. Students will be encouraged to identify the topics they want to discuss in Term 2, thereby handing power over to students. This format will also enable the introduction of a number of reading and/or leisure weeks into the teaching schedule.
• Students will be expected to start, or re-start, a new leisure activity during the module. Students will be encouraged to think about, reflect on, and share (if appropriate) their own leisure practices and experiences.
• Office hours will be complemented with one-to-one or small group meetings in cafes, over lunch, or walking meetings, where appropriate, and in discussion with students.
• Newly available AI tools (both on Blackboard Ultra and elsewhere) will be utilised, in discussion with students, to explore its potential, and challenges, in both work and education.
• Learning outcomes will be assessed through a short assessed conversation and the production of a reflective learning journal, zine, or scrapbook.

Formative assessment will be through a session where students will bring a draft page or 2 pages of their reflective publication and discuss it with and receive feedback from students and module tutors.

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