While third-year College students won’t enroll in the fall due to the College’s three-semester plan, they will have the opportunity to continue their education off-campus with the Junior Practicum program. The practicum is designed to help build career readiness skills. Although the practicum offers an opportunity for experiential learning, some students remain concerned that it will not make up for lost internships during the summer semester. “I think that everyone in the community is making an adjustment that they would rather not make [due to COVID-19],” said Chair of the Board of Trustees Chris Canavan, OC ’84. “[But] if we think about other ways in which Oberlin could provide an experience for juni...

A scathing monologue about the zodiac signs. A somber mathematical proof about the square root of two and the mysteries of human behavior. A carefree dance to “Shark Smile” by Big Thief. An unabashed cover of “Somebody to Love” by Queen, but performed in a pitch-black room. All these and more were the 38 short performances in Staging the Real, an on-campus Winter Term project and that went up for one night only on Jan. 31. Staging the Real incorporated the principles of neo-futurism and non-illusory performance. Both styles embrace the limitations of theater and do not attempt to project the illusion of a character or setting. Joey Rizzolo, OC ’97, was the project facilitator leading the 16 ...

 Imagine living in a village in the Amazon, three days by canoe from the closest city. Imagine a group of people, foreign in looks, speech, clothes, and ideas, turning up on your shores and asking you to travel with them. Travel – which for you would likely be the first time you’ve seen your capital city, been in a car, heard this alien language of English – to a completely different country to be trained in solar engineering. Stepping out of your door would require some serious courage. At the same time, the people asking you to do this would have to be either really brave or just naively optimistic. They would need to have real guts to ask you to take that risk, and be so certain of their ability to deli...

 Two weeks ago, communication with Samuel Beckett’s estate halted Oberlin’s production of Waiting for Godot due to its all-female cast. The script calls for a cast of five men, and Samuel Beckett’s estate has a long history of putting an end to female versions of Godot, often taking theaters to court over the issue.  Months before the production was cancelled, designers had begun working on the show — the set design had been finalized, costumes were set, and the director had developed his concept. However, when auditions came around, only two men expressed interest, and the Godot team cast the best actors for the roles — all of whom were female. Due to complications with the Beckett estate, the same c...