PRT 500: Conceptual Foundations in Parks, Recreation Tourism & Sport     

Course Description: Exploration of the conceptual foundations of leisure, recreation, sport, play, and work, the history of ideas in the field, and the relationships of these ideas to contemporary professional and social problems.
 

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the implications of the profession’s historical foundation on contemporary professional and social problems.
2. Describe the conceptual frameworks associated with leisure, recreation, tourism, and sport.
3. Describe the theoretical foundations associated with leisure, recreation, tourism, and sport.
4. Discuss the various contemporary trends and issues in leisure, recreation, tourism, and sport.
5. Appreciate the importance of leisure and recreation in our lives.
6. Exhibit good communication and writing skills, and sound methods of thinking and analysis.

Summary and Reflection:  Ever have Deja-Vu? Well PRT500 left me thinking, have I done this before? In fact, I started this class during my fall 2016 semester, but had to drop after two weeks due to an unplanned surgery that left me with limited vision. I ended up re-taking the class with Dr. Lincoln Larson, who was not only teaching his first class at NCSU and taught in the distance education format. Fortunately, Dr. Larson knocked it out of the park, because I was taking both this class and at the same time PRT504, more on that later. PRT500 was a great class; it set the framework for what I believe is an outstanding program.  Not having an undergraduate degree in Parks and Recreation, this class was very effective in highlighting the theories, framework, trends, and foundations on which this program was built on. The variety of topics, assignments, and group projects throughout this course allowed me to interact with my classmates on a variety of topics vital to success in our field. Dr. Larson was also the first professor in the program to broadcast himself teaching the class via video in Moodle which was nice since he was a faculty member that I never met in person.