It’s 5:54 on a Monday night when I and nine other students shuffle into a dimly lit classroom. There should be 12 of us, but the COVID-19 pandemic has not been eradicated, so a few students join us through their computer screens. Their virtual presence is almost ironic during a class titled, “Posthuman Studies: Philosophy, Technology, and Media,” where the topics of uploading our minds to the cloud and living in simulations are commonly addressed.
It's 5:58 now. I scroll through my phone, searching for something to help ease the stress I’ve been feeling due to the pandemic, midterms, and missing my family after being away from home for two months. What I find instead only worsens the seemingly permanent feeling of tightness in my chest. News of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine fills my Twitter feed. I shove my phone back into my pocket. I’m not sure whether to feel guilty for not educating myself more, scared about potential violence, or upset about the Italian midterm I spent hours studying for and don’t feel confident about. What I do feel is overwhelmed.
Apparently, mine was not the only mind preoccupied with such matters. My professor enters and immediately notices the lack of energy among his students. Even he seems weary in comparison to his typically positive demeanor. He starts with one question that opens the door for us to unload our qualms: “How are you guys doing?” After a moment of apathetic and untruthful responses of “good,” we begin to tell the truth, and soon conversation about a potential third world war begins.
When talking to family and friends back home about the violence in Ukraine, the calls usually end with feigned gratitude. “Thank god you didn’t study in Poland,” they say. The Italian newspaper headquartered in Rome, il manifesto, published an article titled “Russian bombs on the training center in Lviv, on the border with Poland.” Considered the mark of a “new phase” in the conflict, the Russians reportedly fired 30 cruise missiles at the Yavoriv military range in Ukraine. Yavoriv is the “headquarters of the International peacekeeping and security center, is a training center for Ukrainian military personnel and has also hosted foreign instructors, both from the United States and from others.” It is also about 15 miles from the Polish border. The missiles killed 35 people, wounded 134 people, and intensified worries in all countries, including Italy.
For the rest of the week, students are less talkative, and everyone always seems to be reading something on their phones. My business ethics professor spends a class discussing news outlets, social media, epistemic bubbles, and echo chambers. My classmates and I know these topics were not chosen coincidentally. Nonetheless, I carry on, generally thankful to be abroad and not in immediate danger. But John Cabot hosts students from all over the world. I can’t help but wonder how many of my classmates have family and friends who are in immediate danger, and how they can be expected to focus on studying Shakespeare at a time like this.
Despite living in Rome for two months, my roommates and I still find ourselves talking about our homes in America. One evening gas prices spark conversation. “In New York, gas is like, over $5.00 a gallon now,” my roommate shares in disbelief. Daily life in Rome and Italy is being impacted in similar ways. Agenzia Italia reports on the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi’s, reactions to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine with a quote from him serving as a headline: “We are not in a war economy but we must prepare.” Regarding energy, Draghi identifies many needs, including diversifying supply sources by finding ones that are both not from Russia and renewable, and “fixing the ceiling on the price of gas.” In addition to energy, Draghi recognizes concerns relating to the agri-food sector that have been intensified by the war in Ukraine. If conflicts continue or worsen, more importation of things like wheat from other countries to Europe will be necessary, which will be difficult for those still recovering from the pandemic. While the economy in Europe is continuing to grow at present, the uncertainty of a future that may require more funds than are available to deal with the fallout from sanctions on Russia has motivated the Italian Prime Minister to declare, “‘A European compromise must be found on how to generate these resources,’ and the answer can only be ‘a convincing response from budgetary policies.’”
Continuing to read articles that accumulate faster than I can comprehend makes it blatantly obvious that no one is unaffected by the current conflicts between Ukraine and Russia. Some may be “safer” than others due to proximity but impacts that are not immediate can still be devastating. The image of the city of Rome being attacked and destroyed enters my mind when reading an article about Greenpeace Italy recently projecting a message of peace onto the Colosseum in solidarity with the Ukrainian population. Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, “comprised of 27 independent national/regional organisations in over 55 countries across Europe.” Their Italian headquarters is in Rome, about a 30-minute walk from where I live. I admire and agree with their message of peace, but this visual acknowledgment of the war in the heart of Rome somehow makes it feel more real than before. The ancient architecture that has stood for thousands of years could be reduced to rubble in minutes. Again, I am overwhelmed.
It's 11:58 on a Sunday night. I’m in my bed as another day ends. I and Rome continue to cope with the ongoing stress caused by the combination of the recent pandemic and the violence between Russia and Ukraine. I say a prayer for those in Ukraine and try to get some rest.
Comments