Summer Break, Renovations, A. G. Sertillanges, The Work Begins

Genius Loci readers: Greetings from the far side of the academic year. It is officially summer break, which checks out. The past few days in Florida have seen near-record heat. Thankfully the humidity has been relatively low, and rain is coming in the next few days to cool things down. I feel free, but also a little lost, like a man standing in the middle of a forest unsure about where to go. But it is more an anxious-excitement lost than a scared lost. There are too many options and possibilities. I know I complain a lot about how little time I have during the academic year to devote to The Work. But scheduling my out-of-office auto-responder to end on 18 August 2026 has made me forget about the toxins that leach into academia, the so-called “service to the college” and “other duties as assigned." These noxious elements are properly alienating for the professoriat. They take us away from our primary roles: serving students, doing research, writing. And it makes increasingly less…