27126 Leisure in Australia

Subject level: Undergraduate

Handbook description

This subject provides the opportunity to investigate and account for the leisure patterns of Australians. It builds a framework for analysing the development of 'industrial' responses to this behaviour and provides a grounding on which subsequent contextual knowledge is built later in the course. It provides students with the opportunity to learn a range of information retrieval and reporting techniques central to the development of scholarship.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1. Analyse the construct of leisure from personal, social and philosophic perspectives as they affect leisure patterns and behaviour of Australians.
2. Explain the historical frameworks that have shaped leisure in contemporary Australian society.
3. Identify the types, functions, operations and interrelationships of firms and organisations which comprise the leisure industry both in Australia and internationally.
4. Demonstrate a variety of strategies and techniques for locating, retrieving, recording, organising and presenting information using current technologies.

Contribution to graduate profile

This is a core subject in the Bachelor of Management in Leisure. It provides students with a foundation of professional knowledge, skills and values necessary for a career in leisure management and related industries. It does this by providing students with an understanding of the factors that influence supply and demand for leisure services and the ability to develop 'industrial' responses to this behaviour. Students are then provided with an understanding, of the environmental, social and economic influences on leisure behaviour, services and management. The subject provides a grounding on which subsequent contextual knowledge will be built later in the course. Finally, the subject provides students with the opportunity to learn a range of information retrieval and reporting techniques central to the development of scholarship.

Teaching and learning strategies

Teaching and Learning Strategies include: workshops, field trips, student presentations, computer-based learning and lectures. Content for this subject will be supported by UTS Online.

Content

• Leisure behaviour - patterns of leisure participation, personal meanings of leisure, personal commitment and constraints to leisure (time, finance, social, psychological).
• Historical frameworks - traditional/aboriginal, classical influences, European influences, the industrial revolution, the Australian experience (colonial legacy, city vs. rural, class based leisure), the role of the state, the role of organised labour.
• The organisation of leisure, the public sector, the voluntary, not-for-profit sector, the commercial sector, the 'commodification' of leisure.
• The leisure industry, the tourism industry, the sports industry, the arts, culture, heritage and entertainment industries, the 'outdoor' industry.
• Information retrieval and reporting: strategies for locating information, using the Internet, worldwide web and e-mail, strategies for retrieving and recording information, writing effective reports and essays, organisation and presentation of information.

Recommended text(s)

Veal, A. J. and Lynch. R. (2001). Australian Leisure Melbourne: Longman.

Indicative references

Bennett, T. et. al. (1999). Accounting for Tastes: Australian Everyday Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jackson, E. J. and Burton, T. L. (eds.) (1999). Leisure Studies: Prospects for the Twenty-First Century. Pennsylvania: Venture Publishing.

Rojek, C. (2000). Leisure and Culture. London: Macmillan.

Sheppard, B. (2002). A sporting nation: a history of sport in Australia. Victoria: Binara Publishing.

Cushman, G., Zuzanek, J. and Veal, A.J. (2004). World leisure participation: free time in the global village, 2nd edition. Wallingford, UK: CAB International.