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The University of Venus question of the month: What has been the highlight of your summer?
Janni Aragon (Canada) Each year the highlight of my summer is the opportunity to work on my own projects. With my heavy teaching load, summer is the productive time of the year. And, at the same time, I just feel less rushed and enjoy time with my family. Summer means work splashed with lazy mornings. I am definitely a summer sort of person.
Elizabeth Lewis Pardoe (US) There comes a moment each July when I feel (ever-so-fleetingly) caught up on my administrative responsibilities; my children are fully engaged at the camp they adore; and I find the mental space for a bit of scholarship. Sitting in our screen house with a cold drink and stack of books defines a special kind of bliss.
Denise Horn (US) The highlight of my summer? Being home in Boston, for once. I'm usually out of the country, running programs with students. While I enjoy doing that, it's been so refreshing to have the time and space to write and read (and not just for work!), and to take a breather. And relationships benefit from time recharges, too!
Rosalie Arcala (Philippines) Philippine summer is April-May. I spent it in the US Pacific Northwest with my husband. Hiked, snow shoed and went driving up Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helen’s and the Olympic National Park. Spent two weeks writing at a cottage rental overlooking Juan de Fuca Straits at Port Townsend, WA. Visited family in Northern California for a week. Mixing work and vacation is my current template for spending the summer.
Mary Churchill (US) The Worldviews Conference in Toronto! Great people who were passionate about the future of higher ed. This has been a summer filled with new projects, new people, and working with my neighbors to make change happen in my local community. Best part of the summer has been hot and lazy summer afternoons swinging in the hammock listening to my six-year old son read Judy Moody.
Ana Dinescu (Germany) I have a lot of books to read, and thanks to my Kindle I can set a very ambitious schedule for my travel time, without worries for the extra luggage. Writing is also part of my summer plan, as well as updating my credentials for an autumn professional relaunch.
Meg Palladino (US) The highlight of my summer has been enjoying the lifestyle change my new job has afforded me. Rather than commuting to work on a crowded subway and spending every waking hour stressed out about the constant email coming in on my iPhone, I ride my bike to work, and spend my free time puttering around farmer’s markets. I have no iPhone!
Anamaria Dutceac Segesten (Sweden) On a personal level, summer is the time to travel and this year is no exception. I am writing this from a lovely mountain town in Romania and enjoy every bit of my hilly view and fresh air. Professionally, the highlights of this summer are several conferences I will attend, great opportunities to connect with other scholars in my field.
Melonie Fullick (Canada) The summer has been pretty eventful for me so far, but I think the best thing about it has been the new connections I've made through combining social media use and conference-going activity. In plain language, that means that I loved "meeting" people on Twitter, and then meeting them "in real life"—including UVenus authors Mary Churchill and Lee Skallerup Bessette, both of whom I met at the Worldviews Conference on Media and Higher Education in Toronto.
Ernesto Priego (UK) My professional highlight was submitting the post-viva approved copy of my PhD thesis. To be honest it's been a summer of professional disappointments too, but I've also met and started collaborating with colleagues here in the UK and in Mexico and in the US (online and IRL), and that has kept me hopeful and inspired.
Janine Utell (US) This will sound goofy, but the highlight (personal and professional) was coming up with a strategic plan…for myself. I know strategic plans are the bane of our existence sometimes, but figuring out my priorities, articulating steps to make them happen and keep them foregrounded, and trimming stuff that didn't fit has made me feel more focused and more connected to what's important in my work life and my life.
Itir Toksoz (Turkey) The personal highlight of my summer is that for the first time in a long time I was able to spend a week only reading literature and nothing professional. Also my visit to the Greek island of Lesvos is important as I spent my entire childhood looking at the island from the Turkish shore. Professionally, there are many things but I think the fact that I am assessing within myself what my next publication should be on is the most important.
Lee Skallerup Bessette (US) Starting a blog about my academic research and meeting Mary Churchill and Melonie Fullick at Worldviews in Toronto. Meeting people I've come to know so well online face to face was amazing.
What has been your high point this summer?
