This summer, just like the last, the easing of COVID-19 restrictions allowed for long-anticipated series to both make their debuts and return to the small screen. From mega-budget prequels to quieter critics’ hits, the summer certainly had plenty of options for TV lovers. Whether any of it was good is another question.
Many would argue that the natural sciences and the fine arts are on completely different sides of the spectrum and require totally different approaches. The study of extinct animals seems to be as far from oil painting as one could get. At first glance, science and food are also completely different: one a practical activity conducted by some of the greatest minds in the world, and another a form of self-expression undertaken by some of the most creative people in the world.
After a three-year hiatus prolonged by the pandemic, the cultural phenomenon “Stranger Things” (2016–) finally made its return with a brand new season.
Every summer, over a hundred artists are invited to Chicago’s Grant Park for a weekend of music and entertainment. Lollapalooza is one of the biggest music festivals in the United States, made up of nine different stages and lasting four days. Artists, both big and small, take the stage and perform for thousands of local Chicagoans and visiting attendees. This year’s Lollapalooza included popular headliners like Dua Lipa and Metallica as well as a plethora of artists from every genre.
The CREATE pre-orientation program, formerly known as Arts @ Tufts, celebrated its fifth year this summer by introducing a new generation of Jumbos to the Tufts and Greater Boston arts scenes. CREATE stands for Cultivating Relationships by Engaging in the Arts at Tufts Experiences. Through this program, students from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, the School of Arts and Sciences and the School for Engineering all spent four days this August exploring different creative activities and settings.
Last summer, the Daily dove into how the music scene was resurrected after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, but this summer, there has been a continued flourish of new music and experimentation. Tracks that make people want to dance alongside tracks that make people want to cry were incorporated into this all-encompassing list. If the remainder of 2022 has the creative vision and prowess exercised by the tracks of this summer, music listeners will be appropriately satisfied. Below are the top 10 songs (with one bonus track) that defined summer 2022, in no particular order.
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Commencement 2022 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Four seniors gathered around their ‘cauldron’ of a show, each adding their own ingredients and flair. The result was an experimental, redefined “Macbeth” (1623), which intentionally diverted from the standard practice of show-making. These seniors are Tatyana Emery, Caitlin Morley, Margaret Parish and Abi Steinberg. Coming together for the completion of Emery’s thesis and Morley’s and Steinberg’s capstone, the group struck down the traditional rehearsal process, eliminating the role of the director and reformulating the power structures within theater.
The walk to the auditorium was a quiet one — and cold. The rain-smelling April 16 night gave little notice that any kind of event, let alone a heavily promoted concert to support Ukraine amid the 2022 Russian invasion, was about to begin. It was only as the streetlamps leading to the Granoff Music Center fizzled to life that the open door to the center came into view.
Graduating senior Eli van der Rijn is a double major in international literary and visual studies and biopsychology. In his academic career, classes that stood out include a Spanish class on the Argentine short-story writer Jorge Luis Borges and Experiments in Physiology,a class that gave its students a certain amount of freedom, as they designed their own experiments. Between classes, van der Rijnhelps students better their writing skills as a writing fellow. This semester, he assumed the leadership role of head fellow. After graduation, he will take a position as a research assistant at a neurobiology lab in Boston.
It was a Wednesday afternoon, and Sadie and Ellie had a fire in their tummies. They had just gotten yelled at. On hump day?! The audacity.
The Class of 2022 will always be remembered for our extremely historically unprecedented undergrad experience. Obviously, the worst thing to ever happen to us, collectively, was when an a cappella group had to sing its cover of “Dancing Queen” (1976) by ABBA in 97-degree heat at matriculation. Otherwise, our four years at Tufts were remarkably calm, normal and free of turmoil.
On April 23 and 24, the Tufts Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies presented this year’s Spring Dance Concert, a performance dedicated to sharing the senior capstone projects of its hard working students. With over 20 student dancers across 10 unique performances, each choreographed by a graduating Tufts senior, this year’s concert provided viewers with a final opportunity to witness an impressive display of the chemistry and relationships developed within the department over the past four years.
On-campus activities were undeniably an extremely fulfilling and rewarding facet of my college experience. While I’ll do my best to describe my experiences and navigation through the sea of extracurriculars that Tufts has to offer, I want this reflection to mostly serve as advice. There are two focal points of advice that I have; both incoming classes of Jumbos and current Jumbos of any class can follow them. First, trust the process. Sticking with what makes you happiest and pursuing it will lead you in exciting new directions. Second, take every opportunity you’re presented with and actively seek new ones. These ideas ended up making me feel very fulfilled and satisfied with my time at Tufts, and I hope that anyone that feels lost or uncertain can take these into account and find something they’re passionate about.
This academic year was a big one for the movies. Major, long-anticipated blockbusters finally hit the theaters after being delayed by the pandemic. As COVID-19 restrictions relaxed, the film festival season also picked back up and delivered some excellent smaller productions that fostered discussion, praise and accolades.
Good things come to those who wait. At least, that’s what we tried to convince ourselves as the minutes grew in our wait for hot pot at Q Restaurant in Boston. Fifteen minutes turned into 40, and we simply were not having it.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The “Scream” franchise has always been self-reflective. Since “Scream” (1996), the movies have reflected, subverted and, at times, invoked various horror tropes. Throughout the initial installment and four sequels later, it has been praised for its clever — and at times feminist — genre commentary. But the newest flick, “Scream” (2022), the first in the installment not directed by Wes Craven, has perhaps taken the schtick one film too far.
Here we are, the final “Compendium of Actors.” I’m somewhat unsure of whether anything has been accomplished here — has any knowledge been gained on the nature of acting, or have I spent the last semester simply reveling in the idea of celebrity? I don’t know how to answer that question, and maybe I don’t care. Maybe celebrity culture is a fun respite, so we may look upon our favorite actors and actresses as idyllic figures and tales to tell. With that in mind, for the last issue of this column, it seems necessary to lean all-in to that call of celebrity culture. So, putting aside all of my basic journalistic ethics and ideals, this last column will be in a somewhat dreaded form: listicle. Here it is, my favorite acting moments of the last year (roughly).
Last November, the world lost a giant of musical theater when Stephen Sondheim died at the age of 91. His musicals, including “Sweeney Todd” (1979), “Sunday in the Park with George” (1984) and “Into the Woods” (1986), had a profound impact on generations of performers and theatermakers. His work lives on in last year’s film adaptation of “West Side Story” (2021) and a recent off-Broadway production of “Assassins” (1990), but perhaps the best commemoration of Sondheim since his passing is the revival of “Company” (1970), currently playing on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
