A farewell to swarms

Have you noticed how quiet it has become over the past week? At least in my neighborhood, the loud chorus of cicadas has died down, and so too, have the cicadas themselves. I am really going to miss those little buggers. I know not everyone feels the same way, but I did as much as I could to change the minds of anyone that I heard complain about them. It may be important to know that when I was a kid, as lore would have it, my mother once told me to go outside to play and I looked at her like she had lost her mind because, as I put it, “there are bugs out there!” But, if 2020 was the year that we all washed our groceries and lived in fear of the air, then 2021 is the year that I became enchanted by insects. Maybe not all insects, but definitely the cicadas. I took great comfort in them, in fact. They came when we all started to emerge from nearly a year and a half of complete unpredictability. On cue, the cicadas appeared right on schedule. When they got loud, when they flew into me, when the little cicada carcasses littered the sidewalks—anytime I could have thought, “enough already!” I reminded myself of how they brought me solace this year just being themselves—coming out once every 17 years, bumbling, fumbling, singing, living in the moment, and just trying to persist. Oh cicadas, my spirit animal, I will miss you!

Stay safe and healthy,

Tracy Jacobs

We have a great lineup of online lectures starting July 7 and running through the month of August—all for the flat rate of $45. Osher membership is not required for the Zoom into Summer 2021 lecture series, so tell your friends. Enjoy lectures from the comfort of your sofa, by the pool, in town, or on vacation!

• Becoming an American—A Personal Journey with Saima Sitwat
• Legacies and Hidden Lives: The Women of Hampton with Gregory Weidman
• The Road to the Constitution with Jared Day
• New Money: What is Cryptocurrency? with Liam Digregorio
• Tomorrow’s Future: An Anthropological View with Samuel Collins
• The Boardwalk and the Beach—A History of Ocean City, Maryland with Hunter “Bunk” Mann and Christine Okerblom
• Talking about Talk Radio with WBAL’s C4 with Clarence Mitchell IV
• The History of Baltimore in Ten Buildings with Tom Chalkley and Brennen Jensen

COMING SOON: The FALL 2021 SEMESTER will be IN-PERSON (with a few online selections too). We’ll be announcing the schedule in a mid-July.

With the impending July 4 celebration, Americans have an opportunity to consider the virtue of patriotism and its role in our country. Is there something about it we can learn from other countries and cultures? What if patriotism is less about flag waving and more about the ways in which we connect to one another across communities and experiences? The TU Newsroom spoke with Salvatore Pappalardo, Ph.D., associate professor in English, recently about how Americans might consider reframing what it means to be patriotic and how the pursuit of critical patriotism may be the key to creating a more just and inclusive society.

This year’s Towson University Prize for Literature has been awarded to two Maryland writers—Danielle Evans for the collection of short stories “The Office of Historical Corrections” and Meg Eden for the poetry collection “Drowning in the Floating World.” Both collections examine race, grief, and history.

Towson University Department of Art + Design, Art History, Art Education presents

Virtual Pottery & Art Sale

Now through July 31

Although TU isn't hosting its traditional Pottery & Art Sale this spring, they've gathered links to student, alumni, and faculty online shops. Please consider supporting our local artists—100% of sales benefit artists.