BU Leisure Studies Professor Gives Personal Collection to Gordon Archives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 2010

MEDIA CONTACT
Jo Kadlecek
Office of College Communications
978.867.4752
[email protected]

WENHAM, MA—It’s about more than play, much more. In fact, the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Gordon College has been committed to serious scholarship since it began twenty years ago. Recently, though, the program took another step forward when it was selected to house a generous collection of leisure studies resources.

Dr. Gerald Fain of Boston University, a leading scholar in the field, chose Gordon as the recipient of his personal collection because of his relationship with Peggy Hothem, professor of leisure studies who also initiated the program at Gordon in 1990. Fain—who was Hothem’s dissertation advisor in graduate school—said he believed the study of leisure “should always be rooted in spirituality.”

So when he retired from teaching, he decided to donate his archives to Gordon for that reason. His gift includes over 400 books, resources and historical manuscripts that span the last 100 years of the recreation and leisure studies movement in the U.S.

Fain also said that he admired Gordon’s approach to studying leisure since it included the classical, philosophical, and liberal arts at its center as well as its faith-based approach to social justice.

“Not only will our students benefit from this collection for their scholarship, but it will also be of great service for other scholars and practitioners in the field,” said Hothem. “There’s no doubt Dr. Fain’s gift will position our library and program with a collection that equals other top colleges with recreation and leisure studies.”

For more information, visit the Recreation and Leisure site.

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Gordon College is a multidenominational Christian college of the liberal arts and sciences on Boston’s North Shore, offering majors in 36 fields with graduate programs in education and music education. Gordon is nationally recognized for excellence in academics and in character building, and ranks as one of the nation’s top Christian colleges. www.gordon.edu

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