Writing and Essays

Dr. Robert B. Kauffman

This section contains the unpublished writing of the author. Read them and enjoy them. Remember that all of them are copyrighted and are protected under the copywriter laws. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the information. The following publications are included on this web site. Click here and go directly to the next level or browse the listings below.

rbk blog
Alvin's Farm
Recreational Engineering
Park and Facility Design - Designed the Experience [future expansion]
Swiftwater Materials
Rafting / Oar Rafting
Preppers and Surviving the Unexpected Emergency
Directed Play - How to Play at Work
Professional Writings
Presentations

rbk Blog: This is a blog by Dr. Kauffman on selected topics. Usually, they are leisure related. Click here for blog.

Alvin's Farm - In Search for Leisure: Alvin's Farm is an allegory that explores the question that an increase in productivity does not necessarily lead to an increase in leisure time. Alvin is a crow who convinces the crows to build a farm in order to grow more sunflower seeds. By increasing productivity, Alvin expected to gain more leisure time. The unintentional consequences of building the farm seems to blossom and multiply. Read the allegory and find out what happens. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the information.

Alvin's Farm (click here or on the picture above to review Alvin's Farm.)

rkauffman@frostburg.edu - Click here if you want to provide the author some feedback on Alvin's Farm. If you know a good publisher that would be interested in this work, please let me know.

Recreational Engineering - Designing the Experience: The term "recreational engineering" is borrowed from Aldo Leopold in his Land Ethic in the Sand County Almanac. I wrote a textbook manuscript on park and facility design. Using the model on the right, its thesis is to bring together the resource, facilities, and activities and programs to deliver the desired experience.

Originally, this group of essays was titled the Homestead. However upon further examination, the theme presented in the model better depicts the underlying themes of the essays.

Recreational engineering is designing the resource and faciities and the activities and programs occurring on the resource and facilities to deliver a desired experience. This is the essence of recreation programming. It is the essence of outdoor recreation programming also. It is the underlying theme of the essays.

Click here or click on the graphic to go the the Recreational Engineering. I would suggest reading The Visitor, Wilderness 2025, The Astronaut, or perhaps even The Campsite. They are light reading but poignant in their message.

Swiftwater Rescue Manual

Swiftwater Rescue Manual: The Swiftwater Rescue Manual was developed by rbk who is responsible for its contents. People are welcome to use any and all the materials. They do so with the following stipulations.

Click here or click on the graphic to go the Swiftwater Rescue Materials.

Rafting Manual:

Rafting: The Rafting Manual was developed to correspond to the ACA Rafting Course syllabus. It was developed by rbk who is responsible for its contents. People are welcome to use any and all the materials. They do so with the following stipulations.

Click here or click on the graphic to go the Rafting Materials.

Prepper Materials:

Surviving the Unexpected Emergency: The following materials are from a course which I teach and which is in the developmental phase. It is titled: Doomsday Preppers and Surviving the Unexpected Emercency. Conceptually, think of the course as taking a camping trip. Many of the same skills needed to take a camping trip are equally applied to prepping. Outdoor recreation and camping are my connections and they influence my perspective. In addition, I give credit to Gene Fear who in the 1970s hit the nail on the head with his philosophical tribute to the Fundamentals of Outdoor Enjoyment and Surviving the Unexpected Emergency. Philosophically, he was right on the mark and although we never communicated, tribute is noted to his materials in many places.... One last note. There are a plethora of opinions and in some respects, this is a divergent view toward prepping. Hopefully, it is a refreshing perspective.

Click here or click on the graphic to go the prepper materials.

Directed Play - How to Play at Work: This book takes the principles developed by Johan Huizinga in Homo Ludens and applies them to the workplace. For many in the information age, work is no longer dull, boring and monotonous. Rather, people are expected to be creative in their work. And, there is no more creative process than play.