Academic Minimalism

I am not an actual minimalist but I’m married to one. By the osmosis that occurs when you share a life, I’ve picked up a few minimalist ways. I am a bonafide academic however. My husband is not. I don’t think the osmosis has worked in the reverse. But then I’ve never wanted to be married to an academic.

I believe academia to be frightfully bloated and my forays into minimalism at home are prompting this exploration of academic minimalism. I’m not completely sure what academic minimalism will look like.  Nor can I really comprehend what it will take to declutter my academic life. But I’m willing to try.

In fact I think I have to try. I may even have to succeed. That is, if I’m going to stay in academia. I need a career that is relevant, satisfying, and purposeful. Too much of academia is busy work; too much effort is undone. Reducing the amount of wheel spin is an important tenet of academic minimalism.

As with most endeavors, I’ll start with the personal. Ultimately we can only be responsible for ourselves and our own mental, emotional, and physical spaces. However I have begun tentative steps into academic administration. If I continue up the ladder there may be opportunities for expanding my minimalist approach.

As someone with tenure, who is well on her way to being a full professor, simplifying my academic life is a real possibility. With tenure and promotion comes additional responsibility and additional freedom. I plan to use that freedom to cut back on the extraneous, the unnecessary, and the redundant. I will eliminate practices, policies, and premises that are simply lying around and gathering dust in the hallowed halls of my academic world. Most importantly, I will need to reduce expectations.