[Xmca-l] Re: (no subject)

[Greg Thompson]

Caitlin,

I find it fascinating that you are interested in studying play in the stage
of ADULTHOOD. And more fascinating that you would look in the peculiar
adulthood stage that is filled with those strange and serious characters
called "academics".

Did I get that right? Something about putting play (informal conversation?)
back into academia?

If so, I say "YES"! but am not sure quite how to help...

Or maybe, first, I should ask: what is "play" in adulthood?

Defining by opposition, what does it oppose?
Work?
Seriousness?
Something else?

What do you think?

playfully,
greg


On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 10:34 AM, CAITLIN WUBBENA <cwubbena@gse.upenn.edu>wrote:

> Thanks for your responses. A little more about the project: it's definitely
> rooted in a strong experiential piece (I've noticed that kids who grew up
> in hyper-structured environments seem to lack empathy, appropriate debate
> skills, etc once they get to college. Also, more kids seem to grow up in
> these hyper-structured environments...at least in the middle class
> [Lareau]. Further, this is often discussed in informal settings like TED
> talks [Ken Robinson, free range children]) coupled with a theoretical,
> academic piece.
>
> My background is in philosophy--so I'm most immediately drawn to the
> theorists I mentioned in my initial post. My idea with this project is to
> trace the history of conceptualizations of play in academia to illustrate
> the context of this more colloquial conversation that happens on TED talks
> and the like. I will also include "examples" to ground the theoretical
> aspect...illustrations of play in Novalis' Novices of Sais and an essay on
> play/identity formation by CD Wright, for example. Ultimately, the goal
> will be to bring the informal conversation (back) into academia.
>
> Long story short, I'm not quite sure where this will go yet. But I suspect
> that the nature of the project might allow some room to incorporate a few
> conceptualizations of play, as long as they lead to this central idea of
> play as necessarily leading to productivity.
>
> As a disclaimer, I haven't had a chance to read Vygotsky yet...in fact, I
> just received the email that it has arrived in the library.
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 5:42 PM, Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Caitlin,
> > Maybe you could say a little more about what you mean by "play"?
> > I suspect that you may be talking about an ontogenetically different
> thing
> > from what is at the heart of Vygotsky's work (that's not to say that the
> > two are unrelated, simply that some elaboration is needed...).
> > -greg
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 11:05 AM, CAITLIN WUBBENA <cwubbena@gse.upenn.edu
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > Hi! I am a graduate student at Penn working on my Master's paper in
> > > foundations/philosophy of education. I am taking a course with Andrew
> > > Babson and he recommended I post here for some feedback/advice.
> > >
> > > Loosely, my topic is centered on Plato's notion of play/seriousness. I
> > want
> > > to explore why intellectual play is vital for success in higher ed and
> > > envision this particular project (it's a relatively short lit review)
> as
> > an
> > > analysis of the historical context that has allowed this conversation
> to
> > > happen in academia. At this point, I plan to cite Plato, Kierkegaard
> > > (Socratic irony), and Dewey. I've also been introduced to Vygotsky and
> > > Kendall Walton. The main challenge is bridging the conversation to
> higher
> > > ed.
> > >
> > > Any advice on where to go, books/articles to look into, etc would be
> > > greatly appreciated!
> > >
> > > -Caitlin
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
> > Visiting Assistant Professor
> > Department of Anthropology
> > 883 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
> > Brigham Young University
> > Provo, UT 84602
> > http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
> >
>



-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
883 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson