This RLO is part of "Sociology of leisure" course. The material discusses some major features of current leisure patterns, but these activities are also central to modern life itself and thus have interests for sociologists. The RLO explains how sociological theory has recently focused on the importance of bodies as outward signs of social processes. An additional sociological themes turns on stigmatisation and how people manage social life with ‘unusual’ bodies. The Leisure Studies material goes on to summarise some ‘applied’ work on topics such as stigmatised bodies or modified bodies ( including tattooed or pierced bodies and cosmetic surgery). The RLO ends with a discussion of obese bodies. Students will be expected to work through the RLO and then specialise in one of the applied areas by following up the links and associated reading.
This resource has been created within the Open Educational Resources project "Evaluating the Practice of Opening up Resources for Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences" [C-SAP OER], undertaken by the Subject Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics based at University of Birmingham, for further information see here: http://www.c-sap.bham.ac.uk/subject_areas/elearning/oer/default.htm. The project is part of UK-wide Open Educational Resources programme [UKOER]. Within the programme, JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) and the Higher Education Academy are collaborating on the with the aim of enabling higher education institutions, consortia and individuals to share learning materials freely online. The programme supports universities and colleges in exploring processes and policies, intellectual property rights, cultural issues, technical requirements and data management issues.