Hello! Welcome to Sabbatical Studio.
My name is Liz Delia. I’m a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I believe sabbaticals are among the greatest privileges of an academic career. Sabbatical Studio is devoted to helping academics make the most of sabbaticals, and to exploring how the spirit of sabbatical can shape the years between them.
About Sabbatical Studio
Sabbatical Studio began with a simple realization: we spend years researching, teaching, and building our careers, but often very little time thinking intentionally about the periods when we step away from that.
That realization came into focus during a period of significant change in my own life. In 2025, I turned 40, walked the Camino de Santiago, lost both of my parents, applied for promotion to Professor, and received an endowed fellowship, all within a matter of months.
Individually, each of those experiences invited reflection. Together, they made it impossible not to step back and rethink my relationship with work, time, and what it means to build a meaningful academic career.
That experience inspired me to create a space where academics could think more intentionally about sabbaticals and time away.
Over the years, I’ve experienced several forms of stepping away: a formal university sabbatical, family leave, and the informal periods of intentional time away I like to refer to as pseudo-sabbaticals. Each has shaped how I think about creating space within an academic career, and what it really means to pause with purpose.
Academic sabbaticals are among the most valuable opportunities our profession offers. Yet they’re often framed primarily around productivity: the papers we’ll write, the grants we’ll pursue, and the projects we’ll complete.
Those things matter, but they’re certainly not the whole story.
I believe a well-designed sabbatical or intentional break can also create space for reflection, renewal, curiosity, travel, creativity, and reconnecting with what matters most. Rather than competing with productivity, these experiences often make meaningful, sustainable academic work possible over the long term.
That belief sits at the heart of Sabbatical Studio.
Sabbatical Studio is a resource hub created first and foremost for academics.
Here you’ll find practical guidance, thoughtful essays, and personal reflections on planning, experiencing, and returning from sabbatical.
You’ll also notice that I frequently use the phrase intentional time away. This is, well, intentional. Not every academic has access to a formal sabbatical when they need one. Some institutions don’t offer sabbaticals at all. And even when they do, they often come only once every six or seven years. I don’t think meaningful renewal should be limited to those moments. I believe there are ways we can access renewal whenever we need it.
While sabbaticals are at the center of this site, I’m equally interested in how academics can create more intentional space during the years between them: through summers, shorter breaks, research leave, travel, or simply making room in the everyday to pause and reflect.
My hope is that Sabbatical Studio becomes a place where academics can think differently about time away and learn from one another’s experiences.
Most of what I share through Sabbatical Studio is freely available through periodic posts and my newsletter. If you’d like to talk through your own sabbatical plans, I also offer one-on-one consultations designed to help academics make the most of their time away. Whether you’re developing ideas for a sabbatical, balancing professional and personal goals, planning meaningful travel, or simply deciding how to approach this unique season of your career, I’d be happy to help.