Hello! Welcome to Sabbatical Studio.
My name is Liz Delia. I’m a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I believe time is one of the greatest privileges of an academic career. Sabbatical Studio is devoted to helping academics make the most of sabbaticals, while exploring how the principles behind meaningful time away can shape the years between them.
About Sabbatical Studio
Sabbatical Studio began with a simple idea: we spend years researching, teaching, and building academic careers, but often very little time thinking intentionally about what happens when we step away from them.
Sabbaticals and other forms of intentional time away can create space for reflection, renewal, curiosity, travel, creativity, and reconsidering what we want from the next chapter of our careers.
I’ve experienced several forms of stepping away myself, including university sabbaticals, family leave, and the informal periods of intentional time away I call pseudo-sabbaticals. Those experiences shaped how I think about making space within an academic career—not simply as a way to get more done, but as an opportunity to step back and consider what matters.
Sabbaticals are 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 not the whole story.
Sabbatical Studio is a place to think about the space between the work: how we use it, what we learn from it, and how stepping away can shape the careers and lives we return to.
Sabbatical Studio is a resource hub created first and foremost for academics. You’ll find practical guidance and reflections on sabbaticals, intentional time away, and the questions that emerge when we create space in our academic careers.
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 reflection, renewal, and exploration should be limited to those moments. I believe there are ways we can access those things whenever we need them. 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.
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 support 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 thinking through what comes next in your career, I’d be happy to help.