After 18 months of social isolation and disrupted education, this is a chance for institutions to finally put wellbeing first
This month, there’s a sense of anticipation in the air as students like me begin to return to university in record numbers. While students have been allowed on campus at various points over the past 18 months, this academic term will be the first time many will be able to organise nights out in university bars, arrange society get togethers and, of course, attend classes and lectures.
Durham University, the University of Bath and the University of Sheffield are among the universities holding lectures in person in some departments. After a year in which the opposite has been dictated, being in a room with lots of people feels unsettling. But with cautious optimism, I’m looking forward to the spontaneity of in-person interaction. Some institutions, however, such as the University of Edinburgh, Cambridge University and the London School of Economics, are holding smaller seminars face-to-face, but keeping virtual lectures this year. It seems some of the short-term fixes adopted during the pandemic may be here to stay.
