Vacation

Abstract

Time for rest and renewal is a right, not a privilege, though you would never know it by the average time U.S. workers get off. Indeed, the United States has one of the stingiest vacation deals in the world. Contrast our measly two weeks (if that) with the six weeks or more many Europeans (until recently) expect in their workplace. In academia, the summer can seem like vacation time when in fact it is the only time to prepare courses, do academic writing, and get caught up on correspondence. In cognate fields like the nonprofit sector or publishing, a summer off is unheard of, so this is a serious issue for activism.