Sabbath on a Farm

Rumor has it that academic sabbaticals used to be intended as periods of true rest (when a professor might travel or otherwise take time to visit museums and places of great natural beauty), whereas now so-called “sabbaticals” are generally equivalent to what is sometimes called “research leave”–a time when a professor takes leave from teaching for a semester or year more or less to write a book. Consequently, and contrary to popular opinion, academics today have little time for true rest–and therefore little time for the kinds of personal enrichment that professors would likely enjoy during a true sabbatical and that would in turn indirectly benefit their teaching and writing (such as the aforementioned visits to museums, etc.). Many professors teach and/or conduct research during the summer and spend much of the summer “break” finishing the prior semester, catching up on matters neglected during the school year, preparing for the next year, or even working a second job to enable them to afford to teach during the remainder of the year–so relatively low are faculty salaries.

It’s nevertheless true, of course, that professors have more “days off” or “vacation” than laborers or even other professionals, but professors also tend to spend nights and weekends reading and grading and perhaps writing or even traveling to conferences and speaking engagements. They usually cannot or will not leave their work “at the office.” Therefore, it is important for professors to have occasional periods of extended rest. And, as mentioned above, it would be good for professors to have time set aside to do things like travel to important historical sites that may be indirectly related to their teaching and writing. While it’s also true that professionals in fields such as healthcare and law–and indeed everyone–could benefit from going on retreat, because the primary work of the professor is mental the professor needs not only periods of physical rest but also and especially periods of mental rest. Indeed, professors might actually benefit from physical exhaustion as a means of encouraging mental rest.

To get to the point, a farm is an ideal setting for an academic sabbatical. On a farm, professors on sabbatical would experience what would for most of them be a drastic change of pace and setting, for most colleges and universities are located in cities and suburbs, and even relatively rural campuses usually do not house working farms or follow a daily schedule very different from that of any other professional institution (such as a law firm or a medical office). On a farm, professors would indeed have time and space to read and write (if they so chose or, given the typical state of sabbaticals today, if they must), but they would also have time and space to think–not necessarily idle time, of course, for when one spends time on a farm one should work on the farm all the while–but many kinds of farm work (at least when unmechanized) allow for silent meditation. On a farm, especially one like St. Isidore’s, professors would also have time and space to engage in meaningful conversations with others, for (again) many kinds of farmwork bring with them a certain silence that can be enjoyed quietly or that can serve as the backdrop for a peaceful dialogue that might lead to new insights into the professors’ life and work. On a farm, professors can–and should–spend a great deal of time exercising their bodies in meaningful labor, and that kind of work (as suggested above) tends to provide a certain mental relaxation even as it requires physical exertion–even intense physical exertion.

Almost everyone recognizes the relationship between bodily health and mental or intellectual health, and there is perhaps no better place than a (diversified, sustainable, regenerative, organic) farm to improve one’s bodily health. The meaningful work and good nutrition one finds on a healthy, wholesome farm would do anyone good, and professors would especially benefit from time on a farm because of the peculiarities of their life and work.