Abstract
This study highlights “The History of Surfing and Surf Culture” as an innovative course that combines diverse humanistic disciplines and a co-curricular pedagogy to help students gain valuable insights into humanity’s dynamic relationship with the ocean. As interest in the humanities wanes, this course seeks to reassert their importance by analyzing surfing as a unique cultural tradition born of creativity and self-reflection, while at the same time inspiring in students principles for human flourishing, including respect for nature, aesthetic appreciation, and sustainable living. Traditional lectures and readings explore wave riding from its earliest inception in ancient Polynesia to its modern evolution in twentieth-century Southern California, a region where surfing represents a lifestyle and ethos that embodies the state’s ideals of self-expression, health, and beauty, adventure, and harmony with nature. Complementing lectures and discussions are interactive activities, such as meeting with shapers to discuss board design and technology and taking various surfboards into the water to experience their engagement with the waves. As student readiness and educational needs change, this cross-curricular method encourages students to leverage diverse learning opportunities while addressing the mismatch between Higher Education’s word-centric focus, rising numbers of neurodiverse students, and declining literacy rates. In sum, this presentation highlights the exciting possibilities of “The History of Surfing and Surf Culture” as a dynamic field of environmental humanities that regards surfing as more than a sport but rather a way of life that aligns human history, identity, culture, and well-being with the power of the ocean.
Presenters
Benjamin CaterProfessor and Director of the Honors Program, History and Literature, Point Loma Nazarene University, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Past and Present in the Humanistic Education
KEYWORDS
SURFING, SURF, SURFBOARDS, WAVES, CULTURE, HUMANITIES, CO-CURRICULAR, INTERACTIVE, ACTIVITY-BASED LEARNING
