Summer Work

I'm annoyed with myself for not updating this blog in some time, but I have the same excuse every Wofford professor has---I've been so very busy.

Non-academic types always assume that being a 'teacher' means you get June-July-August as a vacation. In reality, I know of nobody at Wofford who spends three months just lying by the pool. (Students maybe, faculty and staff, no!)  Wofford never really closes, so there are plenty of people on campus.  And of course many professors offer summer classes.  Wofford has made a very dedicated effort to improve the variety of its summer courses, and more folks are looking at summer school as an opportunity to experiment with new material and techniques.  Even professors who aren't teaching are developing new syllabi and restructuring existing courses.  And let's not forget the Community of Scholars and the many camps, leadership seminars, and workshops that go on during the summer months.  Wofford might look sleepy, but nobody is really dozing off.

I've been extremely busy over the last month.  Along with my introduction of George Washington for the Chautauqua series, I traveled to Tallahassee to give a talk for the Florida Humanities Council, and I will probably be giving another lecture in Bainbridge before the summer is over.  I've also been steadily travelingto libraries and archives in Florida, working on the 'tourism project.'  My goal is a narrative history of how tourism has shaped the culture and national image of Florida.  Wofford graciously gave me a research grant for this summer, and I'm really enjoying the opportunity to go back to the subject that was at the heart of my dissertation.

For professors, even travel isn't always a vacation---going abroad involves attending meetings and scoping out locations for potential interims.  It can also--if you're a talented photographer like some biologists of my acquaintance---mean that you're taking pictures and video that you can use in class.  I'm not sure that any of my Wofford colleagues can ever just kick back and be 'tourists' like the people I'm researching!

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and managing to have some restful, stress-free days.  But please don't think that Wofford is closed or that we're all on vacation!  Living the academic life means that you never stop learning, or thinking, or in a sense working.  Even if we aren't actively teaching, it doesn't mean we're on 'break.' 

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