SOS3804

IS EVERYONE HAVING FUN YET?

Leisure is often understood as what happens when work, study and other obligations are finished. But leisure can be much more than free time, and what counts as leisure is not necessarily understood in the same way by everyone. Across different social and individual contexts, leisure can take different forms and have different meanings in relation to community, belonging, creativity and ways of living well. At the same time, people’s possibilities for experiencing and creating meaningful leisure are shaped by social, cultural, economic, technological and spatial conditions. In this village, students will explore these different meanings, experiences and possibilities of leisure.

Relevant competency

Students from all disciplines are welcome.

The village invites perspectives from:

• technology and engineering
• architecture and design
• arts and culture
• social sciences and humanities
• sports and movement
• psychology and health
• economics and organisation
• communication and media
• sustainability and urban development

The village is based on the idea that understanding leisure requires many forms of expertise and many different perspectives.

About the village 

This village starts from the idea that leisure is not simply an escape from everyday life. It can be part of how people create meaningful lives. But what constitutes leisure—and what it means to live well—is not necessarily understood in the same way by everyone. Different people and communities may understand and experience leisure, relationships, belonging and meaningful ways of living differently.

These experiences and possibilities are also shaped by broader social, cultural, economic, technological and spatial conditions. Such conditions can enable participation, healthy living, creativity and belonging, but can also create experiences of exclusion and non-belonging

The village therefore explores two interconnected questions:

What does leisure mean, and what role does it play in different people's lives?

How are possibilities for meaningful leisure, participation and belonging differently created and experienced?

Students will work in interdisciplinary teams to investigate leisure activities, spaces, technologies, organisations or communities and develop their own projects within the village theme.

Possible questions:

• What does leisure mean to different people and communities?
• What relationships might exist between leisure and different understandings of living well?
• What makes an activity feel like leisure—and who gets to decide what counts as leisure?
• How do leisure practices create experiences of belonging and non-belonging?
• How do people create meaningful practices and spaces when existing forms of leisure do not include them?
• How are possibilities for meaningful leisure shaped by social, cultural, economic, technological and spatial conditions?
• How do leisure practices create experiences of belonging and non-belonging?
• How do people create meaningful forms of leisure when existing spaces or activities do not include them?
• How do leisure practices help people maintain, express or remake identities, relationships and ways of life?
• How do places—parks, streets, libraries, sports facilities, homes or digital spaces—shape possibilities for leisure and belonging?
• How does technology create, transform or limit different ways of experiencing leisure

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