Jaeyeon Choe

Motivations of non-Buddhists visiting Buddhist temples

The current study employs the leisure motivation scale to examine motivations of non-Buddhists visiting Buddhist temples. Specifically, this investigation builds on tourism literature to explore the motivations of non-Buddhists visiting Buddhist temples in Los Angeles, California. Motivations to Buddhist temples are of particular interest given the increasing popularity in the West of Eastern spiritual activities, such as yoga and meditation, as well as the exponential growth of Buddhist-themed tourism campaigns. The findings provide insights for tourism officials responsible for promoting ways to attract tourists to Buddhist temples within their respective destinations.

Airbnb and cultural capitalism: enclosure and control within the sharing economy

Abstract Collectively termed the “Sharing Economy”, collaborative platforms are said to be challenging and redesigning traditional business models and ridding the tourism industry of monopolies and resource inefficiencies as they efficiently allocate assets and human resources. This paper explores the global “disruptive” brand Airbnb by utilizing the concept of cultural capitalism to ask questions as to how disruptive and innovative this platform is. We conclude that research about Airbnb and the sharing economy needs to overcome ahistorical, static, and narrow perspectives to integrate critical theories using diverse intellectual approaches to more fully explore platform’s that seek enclosure and control so as to allow market capitalism to function more expediently.

Buddhism in the United States: an ethnographic study

This paper focuses on Buddhism in America, an neglected area of inquiry in anthropological study. There is a need for modern ethnographic studies to shed light on historical issues, paradigms for comparative inquiry, and thus, explore the impact of Buddhism on modern American society (Glazier, 1997). The enormous growth of Buddhism in the last quarter century (Smith, 2002) makes this an especially pertinent topic in American anthropology. We utilize Glazier’s model to add Buddhism as a topic in the area of modernity studies. This is a preliminary study of the nature of Buddhism in America. We conducted participant observation with a Buddhist meditation group in a north eastern state in the US for four months in the spring of 2010. Based on our preliminary ethnographic data, we believe that a unique perspectives of Buddhism in America can be identified: nonreligious and therapeutic involvement or use of Buddhism. Also, new forms of practice become evident, for example, ‘walking meditation’ and ‘bowing to other Buddhists,’ are identified as characteristics of Buddhism in America. It is interesting to note that at the end of meditation sessions, participants not only bow to the Buddha statue, but also bow to each other. This is a unique ritual dynamic which appears to be consistent with the worldview of American people - being equal and individual. The meditation group also practiced ‘walking meditation’ which is easy to do in everyday life. Additionally, we observed that American meditation rooms provide additional cushions to sit on which are a further element, along with walking meditation, which help American beginners to meditate more easily. These study observations shed light on the current situation by providing new lenses from which to understand and focus on different ritual performances/interpretations of Buddhism, and their meanings and functions in society. The most important reflection is that religious change is not an isolated cultural phenomenon but that it happens within multiple aspects of social change (Winzeler, 2008). Thus, ‘a change in symbolic contents can be meaningfully achieved only if the social reality changes as well’ (Malefijt, 1968: 359). Spiro states that ‘ritual activities can be a form of expressive culture’ (p. 120), and the different and unique forms of rituals of Buddhism may be expressive of different elements of American culture.

Airbnb: Turning the Collaborative Economy into a Collaborative Society

New decentralised collaborative platforms are said to be challenging and redesigning traditional business models and reinventing how the tourism business works. Collectively termed the ‘collaborative economy’, these platforms are increasingly intersecting with the established tourism industry and how a tourist interacts with host communities, destinations and other tourists. By utilising the concept of cultural capitalism to explore the global “disruptive” brand Airbnb, we find that the collaborative economy is not about collaboration at all, and argue that the Airbnb platform is merely reinforcing the values of consumer capitalist society by providing a more efficient means to satisfy tourist wants and desires. While we conclude that collaborative economy in its manifest forms will continue, we believe the tourism industry is well placed to address its impacts, and recommend that authorities should recognise parts of the collaborative economy as predatory laissez-faire platform capitalism in need of regulation.

Rugby Union among middle-aged American men: an exploration

Although rugby union, a full-contact sport, is usually considered as a leisure activity in the domain of young people, the motivations and effects of rugby union played by middle-aged men are not clear. The purpose of this study is to examine the motivations and participation effects of middle-aged American men participating in rugby in the USA. This study concentrates on rugby union (hereinafter referred to as rugby) as opposed to rugby league. Data were collected through in-depth interviews during an international amateur masters’ tournament. A total of 14 amateur rugby players with ages ranging from 35 to 52 were interviewed. This study found that the motivations for rugby participation were making friends, the love of rugby and self-actualisation. The participation effects of rugby were a long-term commitment, skill improvement and cultural awareness. Moreover, these findings on the motivations and effects of rugby help support the conclusion that this sport among the middle-aged group can be considered as a serious leisure activity.

Meditation as a kind of leisure: the similarities and differences in the United States

Meditation has been shown to be a cost-effective means to help individuals reduce stress, alleviate anxiety and depression. Similarly, leisure has been found to reduce stress, improve mood and contribute to overall health and well-being. The similarities and differences in outcomes between meditation and leisure suggest that a comparative analysis may determine if and how experiences and outcomes of meditation may be similar to and different from those of leisure and provide deeper insights into the ways in which both can contribute to improved quality of life. The purpose of this study is to examine the similarities and differences in meditation and leisure as perceived by a range of individuals engaging in meditation. Results indicate that meditators experience stress reduction, emotional balance and an enhanced quality of life during both their leisure and meditation. Many of the positive experiences and outcomes derived from meditation render it very similar to leisure. Nevertheless, meditation and leisure also differ in several important ways.

Developing Student Engagement in China Through Collaborative Action Research

Abstract As its market and society open up, China has transformed itself from a closed agrarian socialist economy to an urban state and an economic force. This has released accumulated tourism demand, led to the development of a diversified industry, and the spread of university and vocational courses in this field. However, the industry faces challenges to recruit and retain staff, with tourism education in higher education blamed for the shortfall in numbers and quality of candidates with suitable purpose, knowledge, and passion to serve. This chapter provides a background to the development of and problems facing tourism education in China, and suggests how to support student engagement and hence the future workforce.