Every year, the Dean’s Office makes decisions about sabbatical applications for Occidental professors. According to Salvador Fernández, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, applications from professors for sabbatical leaves are due Dec. 15, and the Dean’s Office takes at least two months to come to a decision about the application.
“The College supports sabbaticals to provide release time for intellectual enrichment and professional growth, particularly related to their scholarly or creative work,” Fernández said via email.
Philosophy professor Robert Sanchez, who is currently on sabbatical, said via email that his sabbatical has been an opportunity to complete projects without compromising the quality of his teaching at Occidental.
“The sabbatical is also a chance to take a step back and reflect on one’s trajectory, what the next big project might be and a chance to re-establish some semblance of work-life balance,” Sanchez said via email.
According to Lisa Sousa, a history professor who is also currently on sabbatical, the leave has given her time to dedicate herself to conducting research and writing.
“The con is that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the pace of the semester and the workload when I return to the classroom,” Sousa said via email.
Matthew Vickers (junior) said that when his advisor, professor Movindri Reddy, went on sabbatical this semester, having less contact with her was an adjustment, but he understood the importance of her sabbatical leave.
“She’s doing her own work and I don’t want to distract her from that,” Vickers said.
Sanchez said via email that he has been busy while on sabbatical, and that he is finishing a Spanish translation of Samuel Ramos’s “Toward a New Humanism.”
“This is a big win for Mexican philosophy in the United States. I just have to finish it!” Sanchez said via email.
According to Sanchez, he is participating in a colloquium on planetary metaphysics in Venice and writing an introduction to a book on Latinx philosophy for the publishing company Routledge as part of their Basics Series. Sanchez said he is also teaching a course on Mexican philosophy at UCLA as a visiting associate professor.
“It has been nice to focus on teaching one class at a time,” Sanchez said via email. “In particular, it has given me a chance to rethink some of the basic assumptions of the [philosophy] course.”
Fernández said via email that department chairs submit a plan for course offerings to the Dean’s Office every October. Fernández said the plan identifies teaching and staffing needs, which influences the results of applications for sabbatical leave, as well as contract renewals for professors.
“The Dean’s Office evaluates the plan for proposed courses, compared against anticipated enrollments and historic demand for courses and works with the chairs of the departments and programs to coordinate approvals,” Fernández said via email.
Thea Wilson (senior) said that the professor that helped her with her Senior Comprehensive Project went on sabbatical before Wilson was due to present her project. Wilson said the professor ended up guiding her through the process remotely, and she had additional support from the head of her department.
“This professor was very helpful in continuing to stay in contact with us after she had left, and she would email us reminders of how to do things,” Wilson said.
Sousa said that she retains some of the duties of a normal professor while she is on sabbatical.
“I have served on a search committee while I have been on leave, which is always very demanding and time-consuming,” Sousa said via email.
Sousa said via email that she integrates the research she does while on sabbatical into her teaching at Occidental. She said she will teach a class on colonial Latin America in Fall 2024, and will have students in that class use historical documents that will appear in a reader she is currently preparing for publication as one of her sabbatical projects.
“I always feel invigorated after a sabbatical and eager to share my research interests with my students,” Sousa said via email. “I feel very fortunate that at Oxy we are expected to be serious teachers and researchers.”
Gabriel Morton (junior) said that his advisor, Professor Martha Matsuoka, is on sabbatical for the 2024 Spring semester. Morton said that Matsuoka helped him work out his career and academic goals before she went on leave, and the adjustment has been hard.
“Having the option to stop by [Matsuoka’s] office was really helpful for my well-being as a student, especially now that I’m a junior and I’m thinking about internships and post-grad stuff,” Morton said.
Morton said that having an advisor on sabbatical has encouraged him to reach out to other professors in the Urban and Environmental Policy (UEP) department, which he is majoring in.
“I’ve diversified my connections within the UEP department,” Morton said. “I’ve become close with professors who come from different academic and professional worlds.”
Contact Ruby Gower at gower@oxy.edu.
