College Upper level Sociology

Writing Assignment #1 

[55 points] Be sure to save a copy of your responses. Answer all 4 questions. Be sure to support your responses with evidence from the readings and/or web sites. CITE YOUR WORK with in-text citations and a reference page.

I have indicated approximate page lengths to guide your responses. Spell check and grammar check! Email me if you have questions. Refer to your readings, websites and lecture material to answer these questions. You may use outside sources in addition if you choose.

Page recommendations give you a guideline on length. If you go a little over or under, that’s ok. But be aware I will be evaluating for content and whether or not you covered the topic adequately.

Papers need to be 5-6 pages double-spaced, 12-pt. Times New Roman font (or a similar sized font).

*Readings:

• Pieper: Leisure – The Basis of Culture
• Veblen: Conspicuous Leisure
• Veblen: Introduction to the Mentor Edition

• Case, Stewart.1956. The Role Of Recreation in Rural Life. This particular reading provides a bit of a historical perspective of the role of leisure (and gender)
•  Chapter 1: Kraus, R. 2001. Recreation & Leisure in Modern Society (6th ed), Jones Bartlett Publishers.  “The Current State” This chapter, though a little dated, provides a some context for more current trends
•  Warren et al. 2014. Social Justice in Outdoor Experiential Education: A State of Knowledge Review. This article gets at demographic differences in the utilization of outdoor recreation activities.

•  Changes in Family and Work: Impacts on Outdoor Recreation and Tourism in North America
  Notice: the publication date, predictions for the future at that time and descriptions of gender roles (particularly near the end.) What do you think? Were the predictions true? Did the article accurately describe gender roles? Why or why not? 
  Gartner, W.C. and D. W. Lime 2000. Trends in Outdoor Recreation, Leisure & Tourism. CABI Publishing.
• This reading provides some historical context on the changing role of families (which are a constant form of change) and how it has affected recreation. Try not to get hung up on the era, but more about how changing institutions, such as the family, have on recreation and leisure. 
• The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views
• Kraus, R. 2001. Recreation & Leisure in Modern Society (6th ed), Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
• You canskim this chapter; most of the categories are still relevant.
• Leisure and Outdoor Recreation Trends.pdf (found at: http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/50224 (Links to an external site.) )
• You canskim this article; if provides a nice summary of current trends in outdoor recreation.
• Residents Attitudes Toward Tourism.pdf
• Pavlína Látková1 and Christine A. Vogt, 2012. Journal of Travel Research 51(1) 50–67
• This is a little more contemporary examination of attitudes and perceptions toward tourism.
• Tourist segments justifications for behaving in an environmentally unsustainable way.pdf
• Emil Juvan, Amata Ring, Friedrich Leisch, and Sara Dolnicar, 2016. Journal of Sustainable Tourism.Links to an external site. 24 , Iss. 11, (pgs. 50-67).
• In this recent article, the authors examine why people might sideline their environmental attitudes when on vacation.
• Creating an Indigenized visitor code of conduct: the development of Denesoline self-determination for sustainable tourism.
• An interesting read on how this Indigenous community worked with the local tourism industry to create more understanding, sustainable and respectful interactions. 

1. Reflections on the work of Veblen. [1-1.5 pages]
2. a) Describe Veblen’s idea of ‘conspicuous leisure’?
3. b) How is conspicuous leisure evident in modern American society? How might this vary across cultures or subcultures? [You can use differences in American subcultures (rural Midwest versus urban Los Angeles or low-income Los Angeles vs high income Los Angeles, for some examples) or differences in international cultures (American versus Greek, for example). Use examples you are familiar with so you can ground your answers in personal experience, as well as academic writings.]
4. Review the information related to changing definitions of work. [1-1.5 pages] .
5. a) Do you think we currently have a problem in the U.S. with “wage slavery”?
6. b) Consider cost of living, minimum wage, work put in for the money received, etc. What expenses do you think would need to be covered for a wage to be considered a ‘living wage’? Support your answers with materials from the course, your own observations and (optionally) outside materials.
7. As sociologists argue, situating issues within their social context(e.g., historical period, culture, etc.) is important to help understand social issues. Leisure and recreation preferences are no different. From the article “The role of recreation in rural life” by Case: [1-page total].
8. a) Briefly describe the social context (e.g., what was likely happening at the time this was written) and why would this perspective make sense at the time.
9. b) Do you think Case was accurate in his predictions for the future based on the readings and websites you’ve read? Why or why not – be specific and please use examples (draw upon other materials or your own experiences)?
10. From the material related to attitudes and values,in particular those related to social justice (articles and web links), [1.5-2 pages page total]
11. a) What are some of the demographic trends that sociologists or recreation managers need to be aware of?
12. b) In what ways is it evident that recreation managers are recognizing, or not, the diversity of the population? What could be improved? What are they doing well? Think of all of those that may have limited access due to socioeconomic status, disability, as well as those that may feel uncomfortable accessing recreation areas for a variety of reasons, including cultural.

Rubric

Writing Assignments (1)

Writing Assignment #2

Answer all questions. Be sure to support your responses with evidence from the readings and/or web sites. Supply a reference list. I have indicated approximate page lengths to guide your responses. Spell check, double space your work! Email me if you have questions. Refer to your readings, websites and lecture material to answer these questions:

Readings:

• The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies: “Emotions and Consumption“:
• “‘It’s more than a shopping trip’: leisure and consumption in a farmers’ market”:Its more than a shopping trip
• “Leisure in a world of ‘com-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-puter-puter, puter games’: a father and son conversation”:Father and Son Conversation
• 1) From the readings regarding tourism and environmental behavior[1-1.5 pages total]:
• a) Summarize the main themes in the article by Emil et. al. on tourists behaving in environmental unsustainable ways.
• b) What groups are identified (3 of them)? Describe them. How do they each justify their behaviors? Does this reflect your behavior or the behavior of those you know? Why/why not?
• 2)  From the information related to wage slavery[1-1.5 pages]:
• a) How does the concept of wage slavery relate to leisure? (Remember the cost of living calculator and what that implies in terms of work hours, making ends meet, and access to leisure in rec regarding time and money, etc.)
• b) Do you think the idea of a universal income would alleviate, or make worse, problems associated with wage slavery?
• 3) From the weblink “Inconspicuous Consumption,” [1-1.5 pages]
• a) Do you agree with theapproach the authors used to describe/study African American consumption culture? Why or why not? Do you think it wrongly reinforces negative stereotypes? (By ‘agree’ I do not necessarily mean whether or not you agreed with the authors’ assessment of African American culture. You may discuss this if you like, but if you do not feel in a position to do so, examine the theoretical approach to the study/the justification of why they analyzed the results the way they did. Do you agree or disagree with their approach?)
• b) How do the authors challenge Veblen’s notion of conspicuous consumption?
• 4)  When considering socioeconomic issues:[1 page]
• a) Describe how socioeconomic and/or social justice issues intersect with equity and access issues in recreation programs. Consider insights from, for instance, the article The Families Can’t Afford Summer. You may use other articles and materials, as well, of course, such as those that relate to how socioeconomic issues intersect with disability access issues, ethnicity, LGBTQ issues, etc. You may bring in outside sources if you wish.

·         Rubric

• Writing Assignment #2

Writing Assignment #3

Answer all questions. Be sure to support your responses with evidence from the readings and/or web sites. Supply a reference list. I have indicated approximate page lengths to guide your responses. Spell check, double space your work! Email me if you have questions. Refer to your readings, websites and lecture material to answer these questions.

Readings:

Technology, Labor and Leisure (Links to an external site.)

parksandrecreation.org: Transformative-Technology (Links to an external site.)

Review these articles:

Leisure and Technology.pdf

Digital Leisure.pdf

Answer all the questions and submit in one document:

1. As you consider the role of technology in leisure and culture: [2-2.5 pages]
2. a) How has technology affected leisure and recreation experiences in the past decade or so?
3. b) Several of you suggested that some of the surveys we used did not properly account for the role of smart phones, cheap tablets, prevalence of social media or easy access to the internet. (Fair points!) How would you change the measurements used in studies to accurately reflect these growing trends (what kind of survey questions would you ask, for instance — be specific)? Or how else might you go about getting a gauge on how technologies are affecting people’s rec and leisure activities?
4. c) How might technologies be used to increase access and address equity issues?
5. The video on “Volunteerism” by Tuan Nguye explores volunteerism.[1-1.5 pages]
6. a) How hard or easy do you believe volunteerism could be incorporated into your leisure pursuits? Would you want to? Why or why not? Given all we have learned in this class, what are some reasons people may find it difficult to do this?
7. b) How might volunteerism enhance your professional development or the professional development of those with whom you work/recreate/volunteer?

Rubric

Writing Assignment #3