Many of us have complicated feelings about 2020 and the circumstances we find ourselves in these days. Now a Wake professor (and a colleague from another school) have helped give voice to naming some of those feelings:
“Francisco Gallegos [of WFU] and San Jose State University professor of philosophy Carlos Alberto Sanchez, wrote an essay about ‘zozobra’ for The Conversation that appeared in several major news outlets worldwide….They described the term and the feeling it captures: ‘One moment everything seems normal, then suddenly the frame shifts to reveal a world on fire, struggling with pandemic, recession, climate change and political upheaval. That’s zozobra, a peculiar form of anxiety that comes from being unable to settle into a single point of view, leaving you with questions like: Is it a lovely autumn day, or an alarming moment of converging historical catastrophes?’”
It is a really interesting story, which you can read here. You can also see a video by Dr. Gallegos about the word zozobra. This might be my new favorite word. But Dr. Gallegos also makes a strong case for the relevance of philosophy and what it can add to our lives during tumultuous times.
With finals coming up in a few short weeks, students may be feeling like they need a little extra help to find support via tutoring. Particularly for our new first year students, they may not realize where to turn to get help. There is a new Find A Tutor page that just went live this week; it is one website where all peer tutoring/departmental help center info is consolidated for students.
We have had a little bit of up and down in terms of our dashboard numbers. In the event that a student is not sure what to do if they get a STOP on their SneezeSafe or if they are told by a friend that they might have been exposed, here are options for students depending on their situation. As students prepare to depart for the semester, we want to make sure they have a plan for safe travel; you can see the information we sent to students and families on November 5th here.
There is a small number of students who have been approved to stay on campus through the end of the semester. There is a website about Thanksgiving hours of operation for many of our campus services. Students staying on campus should be aware of hours of operation, particularly with dining venues, to be sure they are aware of what is open and can plan accordingly.
