As midterms approach, many Tufts students are scrambling to memorize terms for a biology test or agonizing over lengthy papers. What many students may not consider is that Tufts professors are also approaching one of the busiest periods of the semester. With over 9,700 faculty publications from 2022–24, one may wonder how these professors can work around the clock to not only grade assignments, ensure course quality and hold office hours, but also reserve time for their role within their chosen field. In other words: How do professors balance creative and research work alongside their teaching duties?
For Caleb Scoville, assistant professor of sociology, research is a necessary aspect of his work, both for his career as a professor and for future goals, such as obtaining tenure. “Research is really a big part of what I’m paid to do and [am] rewarded for and [am] expected to do. … Obviously you need to be a solid teacher, but research is the main thing that we’re evaluated on for [tenure],” he said. “I think of it as a balance with a lot of other responsibilities, but they also can complement each other too.”
For many professors, this balance is largely grounded in strict discipline rather than spontaneous bursts of creative energy. Most professors noted setting aside a specific time in the week to focus solely on their work.
Lecturer of English Emmajean Holley has worked this past year to incorporate writing as a daily activity. “I would write every day, even if it was only for 15 minutes a day, even if it was just a paragraph or just a sentence,” she said.
Meanwhile, some professors prefer to set aside longer periods of time specifically dedicated to their other work. Rick Moody, a professor of the practice in the English department and an accomplished fiction writer, reserves his writing for summer break.
“To be really enthusiastic [about] writing, I need to be out in the world doing a lot of stuff [and] seeing a lot of stuff, and teaching prevents that to some degree,” Moody said. “[Teaching] exhausts me a little bit emotionally … because I feel like I’m interacting with so many people. So you come away from the activity on a given day not made more energized, but in a way, somewhat tired by it. That’s the danger.”
However, teaching has also proved to be a catalyst for research development and idea stimulation. Many professors have found that teaching greatly enhances their creative work and provides valuable insights, instead of merely serving as institutional duties. Moody stated that teaching and fiction writing both require the skills of listening to others and developing a deep understanding of human psychology. Additionally, teaching at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and being around art students has drastically changed his creative thinking.
“[SMFA students] are always thinking in really surprising ways about ‘How can I push this assignment out of the shape that it’s in and come at it in a completely new fashion?’, and that was really thrilling for me,” Moody said. “The first book I made after I started teaching art school … [I would] say, ‘It’s so transparent that I had started teaching at art school,’ because the container is really strange and very modern, and really I got that just from the energy of the students in my classes.”
Holley expressed similar sentiments about her students, and noted a positive circulation of energy that motivates her own writing process.
“Every day, I’m constantly blown away by [students’] ideas and their creativity and their dedication,” she said. “It really invigorates me when students are excited about their own writing, and I’m excited about their writing, … then trying to hold on to that little flame of excitement and running home with it and channeling it back into my own work.”
For Tony Haouam, an assistant professor in the Department of Romance Studies, teaching diverse courses throughout the school year greatly contributes to his research and helps him find balance. As a tenure-track professor, Haouam has the freedom to not only decide his teaching time but also to actively engage with Tufts’ diverse student population in his specialized advanced courses. This semester, Haouam is teaching a course titled Laughter, Politics, Media – Francophone Perspectives, which analyzes humor in both French and American contexts. Students’ varying reactions and personal interpretations of the given materials greatly inspire him in his ongoing book project, “Laughing at Color Blindness: Race, Humor and Spectatorship in the Francophone World.”
“Since I work a lot on reception, especially on controversial comedy skits, showing them to the students and seeing contrasting reception [helps the research],” he said. “It makes me rethink completely the analysis of a film or the analysis of a stand-up routine.”
For professors, research is the long game, and individual projects can coexist alongside teaching positions for long periods of time. Scoville’s ongoing book “Stupid Little Fish: Extraction, Conservation, and the Politics of Environmental Decline” started as a dissertation in 2015 and has continuously developed over a decade. Though unfinished, he has completed multiple other projects along the way, including significant journal publications, public-facing pieces and related talks.
“It’s easy as an academic to be like, ‘Oh, it’s just about the publications and the scientific awards,’ and, it could, but it could go the other way,” Scoville said. “You have to be careful to really stay focused on what it is that you’re doing. What is it that you want to be learning? What is it that you want to be teaching? What is it that you want to understand? For me, that’s really what drives me.”
Haouam further shared how teaching can inspire ideas in the long process of researching and making creative works.
“[What is] good about this position [is being] allowed to teach whatever you want, and to change it as you teach. It also turns it into research,” Haouam said. “Usually when I publish an article, … I acknowledge [my students] in the article because [they] really helped me.”
What can be seen from these shared experiences are sustained practices requiring strong dedication and patience for delayed gratification. The innovative work produced by Tufts faculty every year goes beyond talent; it is the result of strong commitments and structured discipline. For many professors, there is a reciprocal relationship with the students, and both widely contribute to the creative process.
“On the one hand, [being a professor is] more dazzlingly rewarding than you think it could ever possibly be. But at the same time, it teaches you not to be in it for that,” Moody said. “You have to surrender the need for [the reward], and if you surrender the need, you won’t believe how great these responses will be someday.”
If stuck writing or facing a creative block, here are some advice professors would give to students:
Take a short break: “When writing is too complicated, walk for 20 minutes. It'’s a great way of clearing [your mind]. … Even if it’s cold, I do three rounds [around President’s Lawn] when I’m stuck. I call it my ‘science walk,’” Haouam said.
Set up a specialized ritual: “We all spend too much time on our phones, and so it’s nice sometimes to leave the phone at home. Go to a coffee shop. You have nothing else to do but sit there and stare at your little screen that you can’t do anything else on, except for type,” Holley said.
Read aloud to others: “Writing is a community event. It’s not just for you. It’s not completed in a way, until it’s read. So in order to mimic that community engagement, a really smart thing to do is read it aloud to another person. … You see all the mistakes, because … you empathize with your friend who’s listening, so you think about it like an audience, instead of thinking about it as a writer,” Moody said
Allow ideas to change: “Every time I start something, [my idea] is not uninformed, it’s just not fully developed, and it’s usually somewhat mistaken. You have to allow yourself to figure that out … To me, that’s actually where a lot of the pleasure comes from,” Scoville said.
