Word from the Chair: Summer Holidays
In a couple of weeks the 2022-2023 academic year will end and we look forward to – are counting down until- the start of the summer recess.
Most, if not all, of you will take a break from the normal schedule and might even go on a summer holiday. The history of holidays, perhaps surprisingly, is rather recent. With the exception of Ibn Batuta and Marco Polo who were tourists of sorts, travelling to change scenery and discover new places emerged in the nineteenth century. At that time, travelling was an elite activity and part of an educational experience to discover, for example, the treasures of the Mediterranean and the world of the European antiquities. Holidays for common people, the workers in the factories, only emerged when it became recognised that an opportunity to recuperate and recover would be beneficial, not in the least economically, for having a healthier and happier workforce. These were the origins of what is now a multi-billion tourism industry. With the emergence of the passenger aircraft in the course of the twentieth century, people were able to travel faster and further than ever before to spend their summer holidays.
Taking a summer break is a very good idea. Despite some educational specialists having reservations about long breaks leading to the ‘summer slide’ or ‘summer setback’, the phenomenon that students lose part of what they have learned, a break is necessary and welcome. Indeed, there is extensive evidence that taking a break is beneficial for your health and well-being.* Discussing your plans for the summer with your friends helps in visualisation. This, in turn, is important for mental well-being.
Summer is seen ‘as the apex of living’.** It holds large promise of some leisure time, enjoying a different pace, lighter clothing, summer music, summer cocktails, and hopefully sunshine. What book will be the must-read this summer? What will be this year’s summer music hit? What will be the cocktail for the park or the beach? Wherever the summer will take you, we wish you a wonderful time and look forward to see you back, refreshed and recharged, for the new academic year in September, or the Graduation Ceremony in the Pieterskerk. Please find below some of my tips for this happy season.
Book tip: Patricia Hampl, The Art of the Wasted Day (New York: Viking Press, 2018).
The top three summer songs currently on Spotify:
1. Dua Lipa- Dance the Night (Barbie The Film)
2. Tiësto- 10:35
3. David Guetta- Baby Don’t Hurt Me
However, my vote goes to: Kylie Minogue- Padam, Padam
For some top tips on summer mocktails, here are suggestions from Martha Stewart who, as octogenarian just graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, underlining the importance of simply having fun (and alcohol is not necessary for just that):
https://www.marthastewart.com/274247/nonalcoholic-drinks
** https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/03/style/summer-predictions-branding.html