The Sabbatical Syllabus
Crafting learning objectives both personal and professional
June 30, 2023 marked the completion of my tenth year as a professor. On July 1, I started a one-year sabbatical during which I am released from almost all teaching and administrative duties so that I can focus on my scholarship.
Being a professor is quite possibly the best job in the world. But it’s also an intellectually and emotionally challenging job. The last few years of teaching during a pandemic—combined with the pressures of being a parent of three school-aged children who are also living and learning through a pandemic—well, it’s been a lot.
The purpose of this sabbatical is to refresh my intellectual interests and restore my excitement toward my life as a professor.
This “year off” from my regular campus life is a gift indeed. I don’t want to waste it! I’ve heard too many stories of people failing to accomplish much of anything during their sabbaticals. So, I spent some time this summer thinking through what I wanted to accomplish. The result is what I’m calling my sabbatical syllabus, and I’m sharing it publicly for reasons both selfish (accountability!) and altruistic (surely someone may be inspired?).
Like any good instructor designing a new course, I started with the end in mind. What do I want to have accomplished a year from now? I have both personal and professional learning outcomes.
Personal Learning Outcomes
By the end of this sabbatical, I will have:
Enjoyed quality time at home and abroad with my family.1
Made it half-way through Piano Adventures Book 2 through self-study.2
Worked through A Field Guide to Color using watercolor paints to gain a better appreciation of art, color, and patience.3
Participated in at least 5 Tai Chi lessons.4
Professional Learning Outcomes
By the end of this sabbatical, I will have:
Conducted an ethnographic study on global food policy.5
Written and submitted a book proposal based on #1.6
Presented my research in Latin America and Europe and established scholarly collaborations for ongoing global health research.
Practiced professional Spanish through reading and in-person interactions such that I have become equally comfortable in English and Spanish for professional settings, and am confident in writing in Spanish.
During these Pandemic Times, I have certainly spent a lot of time with my family, but I can’t say it’s all been quality or enjoyable. Kid #1 kid just turned 14; Kid #2 is 12; #3 is 7. We have only 4 years left as a family of 5 at home. These are the days of our lives, and I want to make the most of them. Part of the gift of the sabbatical is being home with them after school, making smoothies during the heat and cookies when it gets cold and hoping they will open up. And I desperately want to gift them the ability to communicate in Spanish as well as they do in English, so they’ll be joining me in Mexico and Chile.
A lifelong goal is to play the piano as a source of relaxation. I made it through Book 1 while I was on maternity leave with my now 7-year-old, taking lessons from my kids’ teacher. I am not good. Really, I used to think I was tone-deaf, and it is not false modesty that makes me say this. But…I don’t care. I love piano music, and I love that I can tell when I finally “get” something because the sound is lovely. I love that my kids see me trying at something that does not come naturally and that I struggle but still love it. And I love that my older kids have to help me sometimes. Learning the piano is really a form of therapy for me.
As with piano, this goal is about the process rather than the outcome. I don’t expect to be good at painting or drawing by the end of this sabbatical, but I do want to have spent some time doing something that is hard for me and that focuses my mind in a completely different way than my proclivities.
I lived in San Francisco in the early aughts and absolutely delighted in seeing the elderly Chinese people practicing Tai Chi in public parks. “Someday,” I always thought to myself. Well, this year is going to be Someday. I will find myself in San Francisco and join these folks at least four times, if I can’t find Tai Chi more locally to me.
I’m teaching myself how to be an ethnographer of policy and policy-making! I plan to blog about this regularly as a way to process my thinking and learning. This project was inspired by a study on Mexico’s 2020 food labeling law.
It is so scary to put this out into the world! But it’s true. I want to write a book. I need a new writing challenge: Having published about 50 journal articles, I’m confident I know how to write that genre. [It feels very arrogant to write the prior sentence, but objectively, it is true.] Besides, the ideas I am struggling through are too big to be confined to the word limits and conventions of a journal article. As part of this challenge, I also want to explore public writing [hence, this newsletter!].