AA100 The Arts Past and Present - Place and Leisure

by Deborah Brunton (Editor)

Place and The Arts Past and Present AA100 [Paperback] The Open University

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art

235 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Samir Rawas Sarayji · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book on the AA100 course and it focuses heavily on multidisciplinary studies. While most of the chapters were quite boring, at least the angel from which they were approached, like sacred places in Britain such as Stonehenge (for religious studies), or ancient Roman villas as places of leisure (architecture and ancient history) etc, there were also some interesting topics like the different schools of thought on leisure between Aristotle and Epicurus (philosophy) and how modern music like the Beach Boys and The Who can be contextualized and analyzed to better understand leisure at the seaside.

All in all, the topics are broad and there's bound to be something that appeals to someone, it's all rather subjective really.

[Glass Fairy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't even want to review it, I want to throw it in a campfire and dance around in victory..but just in case I have to re-do my EMA...I'll just put it in the bookcase :3

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who cares what I think - I'm finished!!! Yay!

[Matthew Kraus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found The Arts Past and Present to be a really enjoyable first module with the OU, and Book 4 wraps up the course really well. Being able to cross over from studying different philosophical perspectives on the meaning of leisure to determining whether or not seaside resorts can be presented as places of escape was really interesting. I think it's a shame that the module will begin for the last time for new students fairly soon as its been going as a course for at least ten years now.

[Tiago F · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first chapter on leisure and the purpose of life was definitely one of my favourites in the entire module. Focusing on the ideas of Socrates, Epicurus, and others, it shows several ways of thinking about leisure, and how thinkers through history have viewed it. The last chapter, showing some of the ways leisure has been spent and how it has changed, was interesting and very fitting.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the last coursebook of the course 'The Arts Past and Present'. It's different from the others in that you are encouraged to read only a select amount of material to write your final assessment. Most chapters were well written and interesting.

[Alanseinfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 4 - Although the seaside was interesting it did seem to drag somewhat - the rest made up for this

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth and final book for AA100 is DONE. As the EMA only requires you to read some of chapter 4, I haven't read this book in it's entirety. Chapter 1 was never going to be my thing, being philosophy based, but chapters 2 and 3 on sacred spaces and the Roman villa were brilliant, and very engaging. The seaside materials in chapter 4 were also very interesting, and I actually found myself enjoying the chapters on music and travel which I hadn't expected.

[Johanna Nield]

Interesting perspectives on place and leisure. The book covered a wide time period but the 20th century was represented by the 20s/30s, 50s/60s, a brief mention of the 70s, and a film made in 1993. There's little reference to more recent times, which I'd have preferred. This was the final book in my introductory Open University module AA100.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book most, of the four first chapters a little dry but made up for by the the seaside section where you could choose chapters to study. I chose Victorian seaside music, dressing for the beach, healthy seaside ,the beach boys and the who.

[Ceri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay ... last book of the course finished. :)

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable text book, favourite chapters; dressing for the beach and seaside music, the beach boys and the who.

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was recommended for study as part of the UK Open University's AA100 'The Arts Past and Present'.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and easily to understand.