Leisure studies

Leisure studies is a branch of the social sciences that focuses on understanding and analyzing leisure. Recreation and tourism are common topics of leisure research.

The National Recreation and Park Association is the national organization in the United States for leisure studies, and offers accreditation to many universities to offer courses of study (degree programs) in leisure studies.

The Journal of Leisure Research and Journal of Park and Recreation Administration are some scholarly US academic journals of leisure studies.

Leisure studies is a strong major for individuals who value working with a wide variety of people including children, the elderly, and the disabled. Those pursuing this major will often be in situations where they have to motivate others, so it is important that they are creative, hard-working, in good health, and possess leadership skills.

History

While leisure studies has existed for much longer, a first centralized organization for directing leisure studies was established in Birmingham, England, in May 1975, and is known as the Leisure Studies Association. In 1984, the first international conference was held by the LSA at the University of Sussex in Brighton, which also set the record as the largest LSA event held to date with over 275 attendees. LSA conferences are widely regarded as some of the most attended events for leisure researchers in the world.