NEH Enduring Questions Course on "What Good Is Leisure?"
FAIN: AQ-50954-13
Bethel College, Minnesota (St. Paul, MN 55112-6902)
Daniel Edgar Ritchie (Project Director: September 2012 to October 2015)
The development of a senior capstone course course on the question, What good is leisure?
The first principle of all action is leisure, wrote Aristotle. In his study of tribal societies, Durkheim found that individuals understood their social identity in the division between sacred and profane time. As Tocqueville wrote, Americans define themselves largely by work. Still, we spend significant time in voluntary associations, essential to a worthy culture. In this course, we will examine five responses to the question "What good is leisure"?, defining leisure as what we do apart from family duties and work. Leisure restores a balanced relation to time, is necessary for a liberal education; provides opportunities to create essential social capital; is a respite from work; is a commodity whose recreational products are marketed to satisfy individual preferences. Because everyone worries about the use of time, the course will have practical as well as philosophical applications.
Associated Products
Translating the Sabbath in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Wendell Berry’s Sabbath poems (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Translating the Sabbath in John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Wendell Berry’s Sabbath poems
Author: Daniel Ritchie and Jared Hedges
Abstract: Explores a number of themes that are common to Milton and his Puritan context, as well as to Berry and our own context: leisure, work, worship, sexuality, spontaneity, community, and the ‘architecture of time.’ An additional theme, a ‘greater argument’ beyond all of these themes, surfaces in both poets' work—“resurrection.” Both poets translate Sabbath into the earthly experience of resurrection, or “heaven,” to use Berry’s term. Their poetry invites us to construct in our own lives a “place of rest” by living in the presence of resurrection.
Date: 03/21/2014
Conference Name: "Ancient Texts and Global Worlds: Translation in Theory, History, and Practice," Wheaton College (IL)
"Fully Engaged" - An eight-session discussion series on work, leisure and integrity (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: "Fully Engaged" - An eight-session discussion series on work, leisure and integrity
Author: Daniel Ritchie
Abstract: A small group discussion series, during the 2014-15 academic year, designed for business professionals looking for more holistic forms of engagement in life and work. Our readings take us deep into the social, intellectual, and personal challenges that great writers and leaders have posed. As we discuss their meaning for our families, vocations, and culture, we'll seek to lead more fully engaged lives.
Date Range: September 2014 - May 2015
Primary URL:
https://www.bethel.edu/events/2015/fully-engagedSecondary URL Description: Bethel University