Category: Life on Campus

Everyone needs a makeover every once in a while, even Holy Cross. Maybe you’ve seen all the hype, or maybe you’ve missed it in the black hole of social media, but there’s a new and refreshing addition to the Hill: the Prior Performing Arts Center.  

I would consider myself an art person, but certainly not an artist. Growing up, I danced, but I’ve always loved watching live performances of plays, musicals, and all types of music. And this new performing arts center is absolutely remarkable. I’ve only been inside once or twice (so far), and it is incredible. My apologies for the minimal pictures; that’s just an excuse for you to get over to Worcester and visit for yourselves! This captivating space is now home to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, a concert hall, a theater, and many spaces for students to create in whatever art form they find fit, like design, dance, theater, and so much more! 

As an art history enthusiast, I will likely find myself in the upgraded Cantor Art Gallery, given how welcoming it feels. Not to say that it wasn’t loved before; the love just grew even deeper in this new space. Well deserved if you ask me! The first time I went to the Prior Performing Arts Center was to view the current exhibition at the art gallery: “Afterimage: Visual Arts Faculty 2022.” This is a wonderful showing of Holy Cross’ own visual arts faculty showing their hard work. For someone who has a special interest in ancient and medieval art, this was certainly out of my comfort zone because it was modern and abstract art. Regardless, it was still breathtaking, and the new space gives it the perfect opportunity to show off for the first time.

In exciting news, my art history class this semester, called “Kings & Caliphs: the Art of Luxury,” will be working with the following exhibit: “Bringing the Holy Land Home: The Crusades, Chertsey Abbey, and the Reconstruction of a Medieval Masterpiece.” My professor, Amanda Luyster, has been working extremely hard and long on this project. Trust me. You will not want to miss it. I repeat. You will NOT want to miss this! January 26, 2022, through April 6, 2023. I’ll be there, and I hope to see you there! I feel so lucky to be learning under such an incredibly talented art historian whose passion shines through my course and this entire project. There is art coming from all around the world, surrounded by the Chertsey Tiles, which are being loaned from the British Museum! I know. It’s going to be insanely amazing! For our semester-long research project, I will be working closely with the Seal of the Latin Emperor Henry Flanders. Although his seal is extremely small, it is still mighty! As I begin putting together my own research as part of this lovely project, I’m lucky to be a part of this magnificent exhibition in any way.

Coming up in November, there will also be performances of Iphigenia by Euripides, translated by Holy Cross Classics’ very own Professor Mary Ebbott. (And, my very own Greek professor! Can I get any luckier?) Again. You will not want to miss this! I just bought my ticket, and I hope you will too! 

So, I’m not entirely sure what type of vibe you’re catching, but if you have not got the hint that you should be heading to Holy Cross to check out the Prior Performing Arts Center and these glorious events, you better reread this from the start. This is the start of something great; you can be a part of it! See you there!

Fun Fact: the Prior Performing Arts Center is in the shape of a cross, which you can see through aerial view photography. And there are doors on each side so you can walk into the heart of the center from anywhere. Fitting, if you ask me!

Hello fellow Crusaders, friends, family, and everyone in between!

Welcome (back) to my blog! For those who may not know me, my name is Alexandra Berardelli. I’m a sophomore from Brooklyn, New York, studying Classics with an Art History minor. If you’ve been following me on this blog for a while now, you already know about some of the cool things I’ve been keeping up with for the past year. Well, you’re in luck because my time at Holy Cross keeps getting better and better. 

My semester is already looking pretty incredible, and we’re less than a month in. If you’ve been reading, you know by now that I love to be involved on campus with my friends and classes, and I’ve been doing just that. I want to keep this first blog post short and sweet, but I hope that you will follow me along this exciting journey of my second year, knowing that I am constantly learning and open to new opportunities that come my way. Please reach out to me if there is anything, in particular, you would like to see on this blog. Anything is fair game for me! 

That’s all for now! I’ll write again later this week!

Peace out, Crusaders!

Alexandra

Salvete Omnes! This is Latin for “Hello, Everyone!” And, as a Classics Major and a lover of the Latin language, it’s something you’ll hear from me very often. As I’ve briefly mentioned in my earlier posts, I’m very involved in different co-curriculars on campus, especially within my major. Right now, within the Classics major, I’m one of the Manuscripts, Inscriptions, and Documents Club editors, where we transcribe an eleventh-century manuscript of the Iliad in Greek. I’ve also been recently inducted into the Classics’ Honor Society, ΗΣΦ/Eta Sigma Phi (ESP). I’ll also be on the Classics department’s Student Advisory Committee next year, working with various things in the department. 

But, what I’m here to share with you today is a very exciting event Eta Sigma Phi and the many people within the department recently organized: Classics day! Classics day is when nearly 200 high school students from around the area come to Holy Cross to share their love for the Classical world. I helped volunteer along with many other of my classmates and friends all day to make this event special for the students. 

While the costume and art contests went on, I judged Certamen games a couple of floors above. Certamen is a Latin quiz bowl where two or more teams compete by answering questions about the Latin language, mythology, history, and literature. As a former Certamen player myself, it isn’t easy to recall all of this at once. And, it’s even better when you’re judging it! 

When we did all the preliminary rounds, one of my friends, Zach, and I were lucky enough to judge the final Certamen to find out who came out on top (very stressful for these students)!

This is just one of the many ways we connect at the college and others outside the Crusader community. I can’t wait until next year’s Classics day, and (I think) it should be the 50th anniversary since beginning this enriching tradition! 

 (Shoutout to Ned Saliba’22 for organizing this event!)

I’ve watched a bunch of the Marvel and DC movies and knew a bit about a couple of characters, but I wouldn’t call myself a superhero expert. So, when I found out that I was put into the seminar handling Superheroes the entire year, I was a bit unsure. I’ve made it halfway through the year-long course, and we’ve read all your favorite superheroes’ origin and famous stories in the comics: Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Black Panther, X-Men, the list goes on.

At first, I really didn’t know what I would get out of reading the comics and didn’t want to participate. But oh, was I wrong. After reading countless pages of comics per week, our Montserrat seminar would have a fascinating discussion about the comic. Our discussions include but are not limited to historical and political contexts, internal issues, and visual analyses. All of which made me feel so close to the character we were learning about.

One of my favorite parts of the first semester of the course was picking any Superhero and presenting their origin story to the class. I chose the Scarlet Witch, who has a super weird and exciting origin that required a lot of personal interpretation and analysis. After I read nearly a dozen of her comics, I began to analyze the most important aspects of her character and then presented them. It was a great experience presenting and hearing about other characters outside the syllabus.

Even though we were reading comics, we’ve gained so many valuable skills to use in other classes, like critical reading skills, creative academic writing techniques, impressive presentation abilities, and so much more. All of these are targeted by the first-year Montserrat program each student participates in. There are six clusters of seminars: contemporary challenges, core human questions, self, divine, natural world, and global society (mine!). 

One of the coolest parts about this program is that it is both a living and learning experience. That means that everyone in your cluster lives in closer proximity to each other. Personally, I’ve felt more security seeing people in my seminar and other people in the same cluster around and getting to know them. 

Each Montserrat seminar is different, but each first-year student needs to begin their Holy Cross experience with this class because of the significance of establishing academic foundations and an intimate community. So, even though I didn’t want my seminar in the beginning, now I wouldn’t have changed it in the end. 

My comic recommendation: Spider-Man Life Story (Issues #1-6) by Chip Zdarsky (Takes Spider-Man’s lives throughout six action-packed and emotional decades. It’s difficult to close. Bring tissues for Issue #6, it’s a sad one.)