Play, Subversion, and Change

3 credits · Divinity School

Designed for those pursuing pastoral leadership, this seminar explores play and its liminal quality as foundational to social life in general and a spiritual/religious life in particular. Play is a practice that restores and rejuvenates even as it facilitates emotional, relational, and spiritual well-being. As a form of knowing, play teaches, informs, and invites discoveries. Through select readings, seminar participants will become knowledgeable about the anthropological and sociological roots of play, the neuroscience and psychodynamics behind play, play and human development, and various other dimensions of play (such as ritual, fantasy, rough-and-tumble, and technological play). Playful practices will be explored and special attention will be given to play within pastoral leadership and religious education. Mr. Hamman [3]