Hello! Welcome to Sabbatical Studio.
My name is Liz, and I’m an Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. By day, I study sport fandom — how identity and social change take shape through the communities we build around teams, athletes, and the sports we love. Outside academia, I’m a lifelong traveler with a curious mind, always planning my next adventure or project, finding ways to infuse creativity into everyday life, and navigating the joys and challenges of family life.
The Story of Sabbatical Studio
Sabbatical Studio began with a simple realization: while sabbaticals are rare and deeply valuable, most universities treat them as isolated, once-in-a-decade breaks. And sure, that’s sort of what they are – but there’s so much potential.
My first sabbatical was full of both discovery and curveballs. I’d imagined uninterrupted time for research and creative work, but life had other plans. During that period, I navigated everyday family responsibilities alongside unexpected caregiving for my parents during serious health challenges. It wasn’t the sabbatical I expected, but it reshaped how I think about time, purpose, and what it means to pause intentionally.
It wasn’t until two years later – during an unexpected leave and with the benefit of reflection and distance – that I realized how little guidance and community exist around academic leaves, including sabbatical. Professional development programs cover nearly every stage of academic life, but there is less support for the moments designed to help us pause, reset, and reimagine. Sabbatical Studio grew out of that realization.
Sabbatical Studio is both a resource and a creative space for academics who want to approach sabbatical – and their careers – with greater intention. It’s a place for reflection, creativity, and purposeful planning, grounded in the belief that sabbatical isn’t just time away, but time toward something meaningful.
Here, you’ll find ideas, tools, and frameworks for preparing for, navigating, and returning from sabbatical, as well as strategies for bringing the clarity and energy of leave into everyday academic life. I also share knowledge-informed insights, personal reflections, and creative practices for cultivating renewal and purpose at any stage of your career.
Sabbatical Studio exists to help scholars reimagine their relationship with time, creativity, and purpose, so that renewal and exploration aren’t limited to rare academic leaves, but can become an ongoing part of how we live and work – whether you’re on formal sabbatical or designing your own mini or pseudo-sabbatical.
Sabbatical Studio comes to life through a mix of free and paid resources, including blog posts, guides, reflections, and conversations, as well as targeted coaching and other tools. Some resources are practical, offering frameworks for preparing for, navigating, and returning from sabbatical, while others invite deeper reflection on identity, purpose, and renewal – whether during a formal leave or through a self-designed mini or pseudo-sabbatical.
My approach blends research and lived experience, drawing from work on sabbaticals, burnout, and identity, along with lessons I’ve learned from navigating my own leaves and from conversations with other scholars who have done the same.
Alongside open resources, I also offer paid services for those seeking tailored support in planning, reflecting on, or bringing the energy of sabbatical into their everyday academic life.