This summer has been like no other.

We’ve learned what it’s like to breathe and talk through a mask, and how to quickly calculate six feet of distance between us and other people — who themselves are making the same calculation. We’ve tentatively ventured back into public spaces that once were closed, and adjusted our perspectives about what is appropriate, what is safe, and what is healthy.

Despite the many challenges, the last few months also have been special in a singular way for the Clark community. Beginning in mid-June, the Clark Summer Series provided us the opportunity to attend webinars offered by Clark faculty, staff, and alumni that delivered the perfect antidote to the COVID doldrums. These seminars led us through engaging discussions on the historic allure of baseball, the pursuit of meaning in the arts, and the secrets of making people laugh, among other topics.

You can watch them all by clicking on the links below. Happy viewing!

• Yoga and Meditation: Erica Beachy, director of wellness at Clark, leads you through a yoga routine that will calm your mind and stretch your body (in a good way).
• The Hard Work of Good Comedy: Charles Gould ’07 reunites virtually with his Clark mentor, theatre professor Gino DiIorio, for a conversation about his career as a stand-up comedian and writer.
• Why Make Art in an Unjust World: Professors John Aylward (music) and Toby Sisson (studio art) discuss technique, concept, and influence as they relate to an artist’s search for meaning and expression.
• Sci-Fi, Race, and the Radical Imagination: Deans Betsy Huang and Esther Jones explore the many ways science fiction can help us reimagine the times in which we’re living and what the genre can teach us about surviving.
• Re-Purposed: The Design and Re-Design of Everyday Objects in Pandemic Living: Professor Kristina Wilson (art history) builds on insights from her book, “Modern Design,” to examine function, comfort, and repurposing domestic designs in the COVID era.
• Baseball as History and Literature: Professors Janette Greenwood (history) and Jay Elliott (English) console baseball fans enduring a shortened season played in empty ballparks with selections from their course, “A Perfect Game: Baseball as History and Literature.”