Table of Contents
Why academics need a third place
2. Do you thrive in social or solitary settings?
3. What activities bring you joy outside of work?
Cafés, coffee shops, and tea houses
Parks, outdoor spaces, and nature reserves
Making time for your third place
Do you remember the American sitcom, Cheers? If you didn’t see it when it aired from 1982 to 1993, you may have experienced the comedic ensemble cast starring Ted Danson and their antics on streaming. Set in a bar named Cheers in Boston, a group of locals meet to drink, relax, socialize, and escape from their day-to-day problems at home or work. As the theme song asserted, “Sometimes you wanna go, where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.” Life at Cheers is a great example of a delightful third place. The Central Perk coffee shop in Friends and Tom’s Diner in Seinfeld also show the value of a third place.
What is a third place?
The term “third place” was coined by the American urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg to describe spaces outside of home and work where people gather, relax, and build community. He first published the idea in his book The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community in 1989 and republished it in 2023. Third places are spaces where conversations flow easily, social hierarchies blur, and a sense of belonging develops. Oldenburg also suggested the best kinds of third places are locally owned and operated, as the Cheers bar was supposed to be, rather than spaces run by large corporations for profit. You could think of the third place as simply hangout spaces at the heart of a community.
There are many historic examples of public third places: the ancient Greek agora, imperial Chinese teahouses, and European coffee houses. One kind of third place found in contemporary American culture is the cafe, which is stocked with playing cards, board games, and community tables. In some communities, a barbershop or general store can still serve this purpose. For some individuals, online role-playing games (RPGs) can be a third-place community; however, it is far different from traditional face-to-face third places as interacting characters do not necessarily know anything about the real person behind an avatar.
Political geographer and urban planner Edward Soja’s Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-And-Imagined Places (1996) developed a related concept involving a more dynamic and evolving process for third places. Soja’s word, “thirdspace,” refers to a space that goes beyond the physical (his “firstspace”) and mental/conceptual (his “secondspace.” Thirdspace is a hybrid and dynamic space of lived experience.
In 2018, Arnault Morisson, an economic geographer from the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern, introduced the concept of the “fourth place” for collaboration and networking. He saw a new social environment blending elements of home and work as people were increasingly living and working in the same space. This fourth space was pushed into overdrive during the worldwide Covid pandemic from 2020-2022. The fourth place combines elements of the first, second, and third place to create a place unique to the knowledge economy.
Finally, a study titled “How we gather” published in 2015 by Angie Thurston and Casper ter Kuil, both then at Harvard University, contains 10 case studies of community among millennials using the concept of the third space. One case study explored the community found in exercise groups. The authors singled out CrossFit groups for people looking for secular experiences that functioned in ways similar to church, fostering a similar sense of purpose and belonging found in traditional church groups.
Why academics need a third place
For academics, a third place in the local community can be a haven for relaxation, balance, perspective, informal collaboration, or even quiet reflection—an essential but often overlooked aspect of professional well-being. Higher education comes with unique stressors: pressure to achieve tenure often based in a publish-or-perish writing culture, combined with curricular development, teaching courseloads, demands for preferential treatment by students, with administrative and service responsibilities piled on top of research projects.
Even your first place can be stressful if you take work home, like grading. Or dealing with a household that expects you to cook, clean, and otherwise maintain an organized environment in addition to handling your workload. Without a separate social outlet, these stressors can lead to burnout. A third place offers a retreat from these demands and can enrich both personal and intellectual life. It provides opportunities to meet people outside academia, gain fresh perspectives, and engage in non-work-related activities that can enhance overall well-being.
How to find your third place
Academia is often defined by two primary places: the university and home. Between teaching, research, service commitments, and the endless stream of emails, it can feel like there’s little time for anything outside of work and home life. Your “first place” should be home, a sanctuary of personal life and rest. Your “second place” is usually your workplace—the university, the classroom, or the research lab. But what if there was a third place—a space where you could step away from the pressures of academia while still nurturing your well-being and creativity?
Your third space doesn’t have to be a bar or a café or even involve food. As noted above, some people find a third place in a yoga studio or an exercise group that meets regularly with social time before or after class. Finding the third place that is right for you requires some intentionality. You may want to reflect on your values first, as well as interests you share with others, before determining the third place that is right for you. Bars may be off limits if you are committed to not drinking alcohol. Exercise classes or gyms may not work if you have a compromised immune system. Understanding what you need in a third place will help you narrow your options.
Below are three questions to consider when identifying your ideal third place.
1. What environments make you feel at ease?
Do you prefer to watch people rather than interact with them? Or do you prefer to do your own thing while others around you do theirs?
2. Do you thrive in social or solitary settings?
Are you looking for a vibrant social hub? Or would you prefer a more introspective setting for a short retreat from the everyday demands on your time? Maybe you need some sort of social/solitary combination.
3. What activities bring you joy outside of work?
Do you already have hobbies? Engaging in a hobby, like painting or playing an instrument, can lead you to like-minded people. Do you already volunteer at food banks or equine therapy facilities, or engage in some type of social justice or political advocacy work?
There are probably people and places that draw your attention more than others. Walk around your neighborhood or university campus and see it with fresh eyes. Try different places to hang out to see which environment suits you best. If part of your goal is to connect with colleagues, look for places where organic conversations and collaborations can happen. A few departments still have lounge areas for faculty or graduate students that can serve this end. Third places in academia can tangentially foster civility and respect for one another’s work. If you are looking to connect with the broader community, keep reading.
Examples of third places
A few common types of third places are listed below for your consideration. Some you may have already contemplated as the kind of environment that feels right to you when you want to step away from home or work. These are all places that can foster casual conversation or shared experiences to build your own third space community.
Cafés, coffee shops, and tea houses
Many academics find the atmosphere and ambient noise of cafés, coffee shops, and tea houses ideal for reading, grading, or having casual intellectual conversations. Spontaneous brainstorming of research ideas can even emerge in this setting. Engaging in a shared activity like board games or solving a crossword puzzle with others can provide a focus for the more introverted, who find social interaction more difficult.
Libraries and bookstores
For those who thrive in quieter spaces, a public or university library can serve as a third place, providing a setting for focused work or casual interactions with a welcoming neutral environment where people can gather and linger. Libraries offer a place to gather without the pressure to spend money. Some bookstores may be combined with a coffee shop as well. Both spaces may offer author events or book clubs that can promote a sense of space shared with kindred spirits.
Community centers
Because they’re open to everyone and usually low-cost or free, community centers help foster a sense of belonging, encourage relationship-building, and support the social and cultural fabric of the local area. They often host events, workshops, classes, sports, and social gatherings, bringing neighbors together to create opportunities for informal interactions. Community centers can increase exposure to diverse groups to allow engagement outside the academic world.
Co-working spaces
While you may go to a co-working space to increase your productivity, over time, you may find yourself interacting with the same people again and again. Such co-working spaces are often designed with open common areas to encourage casual conversation with people you may not initially know. For academics who often do their work alone, being around other creative people who also work alone, like freelance writers or graphic artists, can build a sense of “we’re all in this together,” which is a valuable attribute for a third place.
Religious or spiritual places
Places of worship, meditation centers, or local cultural hubs can offer a sense of connection and grounding beyond the academic sphere for reflection and connection. Churches and other spiritual spaces may host community meals, provide volunteer opportunities to serve community needs, accommodate support groups, and offer classes. Such groups will promote celebrations for marriages or births and support others when the need to gather in sympathy occurs. These activities bring people together in a welcoming, non-commercial third place environment.
Volunteer organizations
At volunteer organizations, people may come together to deliver food to the homebound, create literacy programs, raise money for scholarships, support food banks, or special needs mentoring. These groups may create a third place as they come together to plan events. Third places voluntary organizations have traditionally been vital to democracy—think about Ben Franklin’s Leather Apron Club, where 11 members calling themselves the Junto (Latin for “joined together”) met each Friday to socialize, forge business connections, and discuss the political events of the day.
Hobby-based gathering spots
Art studios, music groups, or maker spaces can provide creative outlets outside of academia. Old-fashioned wargamers meet in person to create alternate histories with miniature figurines and can create tightly knit communities. Ham radio operators from the same geographical area may create clubs and meet regularly for lunch at a particular restaurant. Recreational sports leagues can serve as third places where collaboration and casual networking occur in a more relaxed setting before and after games.
Writing groups
Writing circles for academics are a very popular way to foster third place community. These groups may meet virtually or in person. A good writing circle can encourage meaningful conversation, collaboration, and mutual support. Over time, individuals may come to trust each other to give feedback gently. Relationships rooted in creative written expression can allow people to feel seen, heard, and part of something beyond themselves in a third place.
Parks, outdoor spaces, and nature reserves
Walking, running, or simply enjoying green spaces can be restorative. A local park or botanical garden can provide a break from the academic routine while fostering creativity and reflection. Apart from a possible entry fee, these are spaces that do not require spending money to enjoy them. Interactions tend to be unstructured, but can be communal as well, if the same people meet regularly to play volleyball, bocce ball, or chess. Nature reserves sometimes have hiking or birdwatching groups where different sorts of people can bond over time. As a third place, local parks can be a social hub or simply offer a neutral environment where there are no role expectations for you.
Making time to disconnect from home and work in your third place
A well-established third place can enhance creativity, reduce stress, and provide a sense of belonging outside of professional obligations. It’s a space where you can be intellectually stimulated yet free from the pressures of academic work or home life. When you step outside the structures of work and home, you can create space for relaxation, inspiration, and an alternate community.
Once you find your ideal third place, you need to integrate it into your routine. Even in the busiest schedules, small but intentional commitments to being at your third place can make a big difference to your mental and professional well-being. Setting an hour aside each week in the setting that’s right for you should be enjoyable, not onerous. Visiting your favorite café, joining a community group, or scheduling a regular walk in nature can provide long-term benefits for you. Making it a habit to spend time in your third place ensures it becomes a meaningful and healthy part of your life.
Where will you find your third place? If you don’t have one yet, consider making it a priority. Having time away from your regular first and second places can ultimately make you a better scholar, educator, and human being.
If you are still struggling to disconnect from work and home, schedule a FREE 20-minute session with Hillary.
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