A couple years back, I read this Austin Kleon post about the trouble with months—how they are an arbitrary and meaningless way to mark time—and I agreed wholeheartedly. While days and years make sense from a solar perspective, Gregorian calendar months have never quite felt right to me, always moving too fast or too slow. Like how September just whizzes by while January drags on forever? And how we all just accept that some months have more days than others? Seriously.
As someone who has been on semesters my whole life (from student to high school teacher to grad student to college professor), I can appreciate these insights about measuring time. But I have to note that what I really loved, during grad school, were QUARTERS: three 10-week terms instead of two 15-week terms. With a big summer in the middle. Semesters can be a slog; quarters suited my need to change things up sooner! :)
Your comment about "revising our collective conceptions of time" makes me think of a book I have on my radar: Jenny Odell's "Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock." I have just started reading her earlier book, "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy," and can tell it's going to be amazing, so I'm very interested in her thoughts about time.
As someone who has been on semesters my whole life (from student to high school teacher to grad student to college professor), I can appreciate these insights about measuring time. But I have to note that what I really loved, during grad school, were QUARTERS: three 10-week terms instead of two 15-week terms. With a big summer in the middle. Semesters can be a slog; quarters suited my need to change things up sooner! :)
Your comment about "revising our collective conceptions of time" makes me think of a book I have on my radar: Jenny Odell's "Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock." I have just started reading her earlier book, "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy," and can tell it's going to be amazing, so I'm very interested in her thoughts about time.
I love this! I just planned my new substack around the semester bc it’s exactly how I think ☺️🤓