Introductory description

Our perception of time and space has changed dramatically since the Industrial Revolution. Fast has become synonymous with modernity, efficiency, productivity and even exhilaration. In our constantly-connected, open-all-hours culture, we rarely have the time to reflect on the consequences. The global pandemic, however, has brought our relationship with time and space into sharper focus. This module provides opportunity to reflect on the mental, physical, societal and environmental impact of the so-called cult of speed. It examines how the slow movement, which started in Italy in the mid-1980s, has sought to resist the acceleration of modern society. Using a variety of interactive pedagogical approaches, students will engage with a range of expert perspectives, case studies and guided activities to examine how the principles of Slow have been applied to areas such as food, travel, town-planning, education, film studies, scientific research, marketing and psychology. Students will be encouraged to reflect both on their own relationship with temporality and how the principles of the slow movement can be applied to their own academic discipline. A critical approach will be encouraged: is slow really a new movement? Is it an anti-modern rejection of capitalism or simply an alternative mode of consumption? Is slowness a luxury available only to a privileged few?

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1: Time waits for no-one! An exploration of the experience and perception of time from a philosophical and psychological science perspective.
Week 2: Going Slow: introduction to the Slow Movement. Examining responses to the acceleration of modern society using the Slow Food movement as case study considering immunology, sustainability and wellbeing.
Week 3: Life in the slow lane: Slow Travel, Slow cities and sustainability (the case of Ludlow).
Week 4: Is time money? Slow marketing strategies and design thinking. Can a slow approach help organisations survive and thrive in challenging situations?
Week 5: Slow Arts: how the slow movement applies to our creative expression (slow poetry and slow cinema).
Week 6: Thinking slow and fast: exploring the different ways the human brain has evolved in response to the 'modern' environment. Does rapid cognition lead to better decisions, action and outcomes?
Week 7: Slow, flow and flourishing: exploring the links between the Slow Movement and the principles of positive psychology.
Week 8: The need for speed: the interaction between medicine, sports science, performance and recovery.
Week 9: The Slow University: slow approaches to teaching, learning and research.
Week 10: Time to reflect: summaries and conclusions. How do the values of speed pervade our everyday life? How inclusive and accessible is the slow movement?

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Develop an understanding of the key aspects of the slow movement, including its origins, guiding principles and values.
• Critically analyse the application of the slow movement and show an awareness of its limitations across different disciplines and knowledge domains.
• Reflect personally on their own relationship with temporality and how the principles of the slow movement apply to their own context.
• Show an ability to access, and critically analyse primary and secondary source materials in order to clearly communicate their ideas.
• Demonstrate the ability to write in different styles for different contexts and purposes.
• Demonstrate ethical awareness and show show sensitivity to cultural contexts.

Indicative reading list

Websites and Manifestos
The Slow Travel Manifesto: https://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/a-manifesto-for-slow-travel
The Slow Food Manifesto: https://slowfood.com/filemanager/Convivium%20Leader%20Area/Manifesto_ENG.pdf
The Slow Science Manifesto http://slow-science.org/
http://www.cittaslow.org/
https://www.theworldinstituteofslowness.com/

Bac Dorin, P., ‘From Slow Food to Slow Tourism’, Annals of the University of Oradea, 23:2, 2014, 137-44.

Berg, M., & B. K. Seeber, The Slow Professor, Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016).

Clancy, M., Slow Tourism, Food and Cities: Pace and the Search for the “Good Life” (Routledge: Abingdon, 2018).

Guiver, J. W, & P. McGrath, ‘Slow Tourism: Exploring the discourses’, Dos Algarves, 27, 11-34.

Hall, C. M., `The Contradictions and Paradoxes of Slow Food: Environmental Change, Sustainability and the Conservation of Taste’, in Fullagar S., Markwell, K., Wilson, E. (eds.), Slow tourism: experiences and mobilities (Bristol: Channel View, 2012)

Heitmann, S., Robinson, P., Povey, G., Slow food, Slow Cities and Slow Tourism, in Robinson P., Heitmann, S. and Dieke, P. (eds.), Research Themes for Tourism (Wallingford: CABI, 2011)

Honoré, C., In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed (London: Orion, 2004).

Kahneman, D., Thinking, Fast and Slow (London: Penguin, 2011).

McWha, M., W. Frost & J. Laing (2017) ‘Sustainable travel writing? Exploring the ethical dilemmas of twenty-first-century travel writers’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25:10 (2017), 1401-1417

Paxson, H., ‘Slow Food in a Fat Society: Satisfying Ethical Appetites’, Gastronomica, 5: 1 (2005), 4-18

Rosa, H., Social Acceleration : A New Theory of Modernity (Columbia University Press: New York, NY 2013).

Rosa, H., and W. E. Scheuerman (eds.), 'Introduction', in High Speed Society: Social Acceleration, Power, and Modernity (PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008), pp. 1-29.

Rovelli, C., The Order of Time (London: Penguin, 2019).

Urry, J., ‘Speeding Up and Slowing Down’, in High Speed Society: Social Acceleration, Power, and Modernity, ed. by H. Rosa and W. E. Scheuerman (PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008), pp. 179-198.

Wajcman, J., Pressed for Time : The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism (University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 2015). See Chapter 1: 'Pressed for Time : The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism', pp. 13-36.

Wajcman, J, & N. Dodd, eds., The Sociology of Speed: Digital, Organizational, and Social Temporalities (OUP: Oxford, 2016).

Wittmann. M., Felt Time: The Psychology of How We Perceive Time (Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2016).

Research element

The portfolio requires an element of independent learning and research as students are expected to identify and engage with recent scholarship on their chosen area of interest as part of the the portfolio tasks.

Interdisciplinary

The module draws on different disciplines in order to develop a wider understanding of the temporal changes of modern society and encourages students to make meaningful connections between them. It includes case studies on the slow movement, and presentations from academics from the faculties of Arts, Science and Social Sciences. The mode of assessment also encourages students to incorporate approaches and methods from different disciplines.

International

The slow movement is a global movement and the case studies examined in the module are drawn from several different countries. The module aims to promote intercultural awareness through its examination of specific cultural contexts. It encourages students to think about the local and global impact of activities from food production to travel.

Subject specific skills

A systematic understanding of key concepts of the slow movement and current debates on the acceleration of modern society.

An understanding of how the principles of slow have been applied to areas such as food, travel, psychology, marketing, education, sports science and scientific research, and an ability to apply these to individual case studies

Critical awareness of and reflection on recent scholarship and debates appropriate to the topic.

An ability to bring knowledge from different disciplinary areas together in an interconnected way to extend debates and interpretations.

An ability to grasp the complex interaction between scientific, social scientific, humanistic and artistic approaches to time as a fundamental human experiential construct.

Transferable skills

Ability to apply abstract principles to practical real-world issues.
Ability to initiate and carry out a portfolio based project
Ability to identify a range of solutions to a problem and evaluate their effectiveness
Self-reflection and critical analysis
Ability to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of forms.
Ethical awareness and intercultural competence
Resourcefulness, initiative, adaptability and flexibility