We invite the Villanova Community to join us for a taste of mindfulness meditation on Mondays from 1-1:30 p.m. during the spring semester. Mindfulness Mondays will offer a comfortable space, both in person and virtually, where you are guided and encouraged to stop and focus on the “here and now.” Mindfulness is proven to reduce stress and enhance well-being, which can be beneficial to all faculty, staff, and students.

Sessions will take place each week in person at St. Rita Hall, Multifaith Prayer Room and Zoom (join here). Sessions will take place on most Mondays from January 22 through April 29. *Please note: there will not be sessions on March 4 (spring break) and April 1 (Easter break). A full list of dates are available here.

These ACS-approved events are presented by The Office of Mission & Ministry and co-sponsored by Falvey Library. Registration is not required. All are welcome!

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week.

Photo by Léonard Cotte on Unsplash

In a few days, midterms will be upon us, which likely means that many of us are spending some time over the weekend studying. It’s a stressful time, especially after coming back from summer break, where it sometimes feels like your brain has done a factory reset. Being at least a little stressed or overwhelmed is somewhat inevitable.

One way to reduce some of that inevitable stress is mindfulness and meditation. It might seem boring or silly, but it actually can be a very effective self-care technique. So, this weekend’s recs will give you some mindfulness recs to help you relax in preparation for the week ahead.

If you have 30 seconds…and are feeling anxious, follow along with this deep breathing TikTok.

If you have 5 minutes and 15 seconds…and need to de-stress with a quick study break, follow along with this quick guided meditation.

Bonus: Need more time for mindfulness? Check out our Mindfulness Monday session on Oct. 2 from 1-1:30 p.m.

If you have 15 minutes…and want to learn about the positive effects mindfulness and meditation can have, read this article compiling some of the research on mindfulness. Although it’s not an entire cure-all, it has been shown to positively affect mental health and well being, which are certainly important during midterms.

Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash

If you have 27 minutes and 38 seconds…and don’t like meditation tapes, watch this (or any) episode of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. Although it’s not a guided meditation, Bob’s peaceful voice is still pretty effective at soothing any stress.

If you have 2 hours…and need some calming sounds to relax (or study) to, check out MyNoise.net. They have a free library of relaxing sounds and songs, from calming rain to white noise to soothing instrumentals. Plus, all of the sounds and songs have customizable sliders, so you can change the presets to isolate certain tracks or change the equalization. My personal favorite is the “Duduk Song,” which is hauntingly beautiful.

Bonus: if you need some more meditation songs, listen to Spotify’s “Peaceful Meditation” playlist.

If you have 4 hours…and are new to mindfulness, read this introductory guide for using mindfulness to ease stress, available online through Falvey.

Annie Stockmal is a second-year graduate student in the Communication Department and Graduate Assistant in Falvey Library.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

In Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins wrote, “It takes ten times as long to put yourself together as it does to fall apart.”

Happy Monday, Wildcats! Welcome to the first official Monday of the semester. Of course, it’s easy (and important) to enjoy this relatively mellow point in the semester, but it’s also really important to start building good habits early. Whether it’s your first year at Villanova or your last, building good habits in the beginning of the semester is easier than trying to start them during midterms or finals week.

So, whether it’s building a study routine, prioritizing self-care, practicing mindfulness, or getting acquainted with important resources you’ll need down the line, start early. You’ll thank yourself later.

THIS WEEK AT FALVEY

Monday, August 28

Mindfulness Monday | 1-1:30 p.m. | Health Services Building 200 | Virtual Option | ACS-Approved | Free & Open to Villanova Students, Faculty, & Staff

The Learners’ Studio/Center for Speaking and Presentation | 4-9 p.m. | Room 301 | Free

Tuesday, August 29

The Learners’ Studio/Center for Speaking and Presentation | 4-9 p.m. | Room 301 | Free

Wednesday, August 30

The Learners’ Studio/Center for Speaking and Presentation | 4-9 p.m. | Room 301 | Free

Thursday, August 31

The Learners’ Studio/Center for Speaking and Presentation | 4-9 p.m. | Room 301 | Free

Sunday, September 3

The Learners’ Studio/Center for Speaking and Presentation | 4-9 p.m. | Room 301 | Free

HOLIDAYS THIS WEEK

Photo by Deval Parikh on Unsplash

Wednesday, Aug. 30, is Frankenstein Day. If you’re a sci-fi fan, you can celebrate this (obscure) holiday by consuming your favorite Frankenstein content, whether that’s Mary Shelley’s classic novel, the 1931 film, or an inspired re-imagining, like Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie.

This Thursday, Aug. 31, is Eat Outside Day. Whether you lay out a picnic blanket, take advantage of the Adirondack chairs around campus, or sit at a table on Falvey’s patio, today is a great excuse to enjoy the warm weather while it lasts and soak up some vitamin D.

Thursday is also National Trail Mix Day. Trail mix is the perfect on-the-go snack to grab as you’re getting into the swing of the semester. Plus, there are hundreds of varieties (especially if you mix your own). My personal favorite mix has cashews, almonds, peanuts, raisins, and M&Ms.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.

We invite the Villanova Community to join us for a taste of mindfulness meditation on Mondays from 1-1:30 pm during the fall semester. Mindfulness Mondays will offer a comfortable space, both in person and virtually, where you are guided and encouraged to stop and focus on the “here and now.” Mindfulness is proven to reduce stress and enhance well-being, which can be beneficial to all faculty, staff, and students.

Sessions will take place each week in person and via Zoom. Please follow this link to join: https://villanova.zoom.us/j/99049034689.

Sessions will take place on most Mondays from August 28 and through December 18. *Please note: there will not be sessions on September 4 (Labor Day) and October 9 (Fall Break). A full list of dates is available here.

Mindfulness Mondays are ACS-approved and presented by Campus Ministry and co-sponsored by Falvey Library. Registration is not required. All are welcome at these events!

By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week: Assiduous  

(adj) showing great care and perseverance  

Mid-terms are upon us, and I implore everyone to be assiduous with your studies this week. A much-needed Spring break is right around the corner, we all just need to persevere and put in those extra hours studying and drafting papers to get there. I’ll be pulling quite a few late nights and early mornings this week to get everything done, so just know you are not alone. 

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jun. 15th  

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit | Falvey First Floor & Online | Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Feb. 21st  

Mindfulness Mondays | 1–1:30 p.m. | Virtual | https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849  

Wednesday, Feb. 23rd

Mid-Term Event | 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. | Falvey First Floor | Stop by for some dough to get you through midterms! Cookie dough and Play-Doh are the essentials you never knew you needed to get through this mid-term season.

This Week in History 

February 22nd, 1980 – U.S. hockey team beats the Soviets in the “Miracle on Ice” 

Stay in theme with the 2022 Beijing Olympics wrapping up this past weekend, this week’s week in history flashes back to the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games. In one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the United States hockey team, made up of college students, defeated the Soviet Union team that had one the last four Olympic gold medals. 

The U.S. team, with an average player age of 22, entered the Games as the 7th-seed as opposed to the Soviet Union’s experienced team entering as 1st-seed. In front of 100,000 spectators, the U.S. pulled out a 4-3 win and then went on to defeat Finland two days later, securing the gold. This unbelievable upset and victory was later memorialized in a 2004 film, Miracle, starring Kurt Russell. Miracle is available for streaming on Disney+. To read more about this upset and how it played out, visit History.com. 

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week: Hiemal  

(adj) of or related to winter; wintry  

With the heimel temperatures we have been experiencing, it does not surprise me that February is here. If your friends or family are tired of hearing you complain about how cold the weather is, up your cold-weather vocabulary and change it up on them. Here you can find a whole list of synonyms for “extremely cold.” 

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jan. 15 

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit / Falvey First Floor & Online / Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Jan. 31

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849  

Friday, Feb. 4

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public  

This Week in History 

Feb. 1, 1884– Oxford Dictionary debuts 

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is considered the most comprehensive and accurate dictionary of the English language, including not only present-day, common meanings, but also the histories of words included.  

In 1857 members of London’s Philological Society set out to produce an English dictionary covering all words starting during the Anglo-Saxon period (1150 A.D.). Although planned to be 6,400 pages in four volumes, the Dictionary was published under the imposing name A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles – contained over 400,000 words and phrases in ten volumes. 

In 1984, Oxford University Press began the five-year journey to electronically publish the OED. The project required the power of 170 people – 120 people to type up the pages from the print edition and another 50 people to proofread. The online dictionary has been active since 2000.  

To learn more about the development and history of the OED, read the full History.com article here. 

History.com Editors. (2009, November 24). Oxford dictionary debuts. History.com. Retrieved January 31, 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/oxford-dictionary-debuts 

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

By Jenna Renaud

Word of the Week

Every year since 2013 the New York Times has conducted a Vocabulary Video challenge for middle- and high-school students. For the contest, students take a word of the day from the past year and create a video under 15-seconds long that defines or teaches that word. Then, at the end of the year, they select some of the best. Last August, the New York Times posted compilation videos of their best verb, noun, and adjective submissions over the years. Check it out here! Maybe you’ll learn a new word or two.  

Verbs Featured: abscond, amalgamate, defame, distill, exorcise, feign, levitate, scotch, vex

Adjectives Featured: agape, anachronistic, aquiline, cacophonous, callow, dexterous, ghastly, gusty, indolent, macabre, mellifluous, nocturnal, obsequious, piscatorial, puerile, pugnacious, sartorial, Sisyphean, superfluous 

Nouns Featured: acrophobia, alchemy, arrogance, autopsy, bevy, bluff, carafe, cartographer, catalyst, censor, comeuppance, degradation, entrée, equinox, fecundity, finesse, fluke, hallucination, illusion, killjoy, malingerer, mishap, naïveté, nonchalance, onomatopoeia, peregrination, plagiarism, pyromaniac, regicide, serendipity, telekinesis, upstage 

This Week at Falvey  

NOW–Wednesday, Jan. 15 

“That Fairyland of Ice”: Polar Exploration in Mind and Memory Exhibit / Falvey First Floor & Online / Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Jan. 24

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849  

Thursday, Jan. 27

2022 Literary Festival – Jericho Brown / 7 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public

Friday, Jan. 28

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public  

This Week in History 

Jan. 28, 1986 – The space shuttle Challenger explodes after liftoff 

2021 was a big year for space travel with the first all-civilian space flight taking place in September. Thirty-five years prior, Christa McAuliffe was on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space on the Challenger. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher, had won a competition that earned her a spot on the Challenger’s crew.  

Seventy-three seconds after take-off, the Challenger exploded leaving no survivors. This disaster was the first major shuttle accident, and NASA refrained from sending astronauts into space for two years as they worked to ensure a similar tragedy would not happen again.  

To learn more about what went wrong with the Challenger and the future of space shuttle travel, read this article from History.com.  

A&E Television Networks. (2009, November 24). Space shuttle challenger disaster. History.com. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/challenger-explodes

Jenna Renaud is a Graduate Assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a Graduate Student in the Communication Department.

Word of the Week: Fika (v/n) 

Staying in Scandinavia for this week’s word of the week (if you haven’t read last week’s Peek at the Week, give it a look) we’re learning about the relaxing Swedish coffee break, “fika.” Although fika is a daily part of people’s lives in Sweden, we could use a little more of it in America.  

Fika is more than just a coffee break. It’s an opportunity to slow down, grab coffee, pick up a sweet treat, and engage in meaningful conversation with friends. I know I’m not very good at the “slowing down” part of a coffee break, but by focusing on engaging in fika throughout my day, I can work to be more mindful and accomplish more the rest of the day.  

Want to learn more about the art of fika? Check out The Little Book of Fika: The Uplifting Daily Ritual of the Swedish Coffee Break by Linda Balslev in Falvey’s collection.  

This Week at Falvey  

Monday, Nov. 15th–Friday, Jan. 7th  

Cabinets of Curiosity Exhibit / Falvey First Floor / Free & Open to the Public 

Monday, Nov. 15th–Friday, Nov. 19th  

Undergraduate Research Symposium Poster Display / 8 a.m.–5 p.m. / Falvey’s Digital Scholarship Lab & Room 205 / Free & Open to the Public 

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week Display / First Floor Display Case

Monday, Nov. 15th–Wednesday, Nov. 17th  

Virtual VuFind® Summit 2021 / 9 a.m.–12 p.m. each day / Virtual / Register Here 

Monday, Nov. 15th  

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Wednesday, Nov. 17th  

Fall 2021 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Creating Interactive GIS Maps with Leaflet and R / 12–1:30 p.m. / Virtual / Register Here 

GIS Day Lecture: Signe Peterson Fourmy, JD, PhD, Villanova University, on “Digital Mapping & Last Seen Ads” / 5:30–6:30 p.m. / Virtual / Register Here 

Thursday, Nov. 18th  

GTU Honor Society Talk & GEV Colloquium Lecture: Gordon Coonfield, PhD, on “How Neighborhoods Remember: Mapping Memory and Making Place in Philadelphia” / 5:30–6:30 p.m. / Mendel 154 & Virtual / Register Here 

Friday, Nov. 19th 

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public 

This Week in History 

November 19, 1863 – President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address 

On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln delivered arguably one of the best speeches in the country’s history at the dedication of the Soliders’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The 2-3 minute speech consisting of less than 275 words ended up being exceptionally more powerful than the 2-hour speech delivered by orator Edward Everett.  

Here are the concluding remarks from his little speech: “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” 

A&E Television Networks. (2010, March 10). President Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address. History.com. Retrieved November 10, 2021, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-delivers-gettysburg-address. 

Jenna Renaud is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library.

Word of the Week: Hygge  

One of Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 word of the year finalists was the Danish word Hygge. The word is defined as a “quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” There is no direct English translation, although the word cozy seems to come the closest to describing hygge. It derives from a sixteenth-century Norwegian term, hugga, meaning “to comfort” or “to console,” which is related to the English word “hug.” The word can be used as a noun, adjective, verb, or compound noun, giving it essentially endless applications.  

As the temperature drops, we are entering into the most hygge time of the year. In between classes, essays, labs, and never-ending readings, take some time to embrace your inner hygge by lighting a candle and curling up under a comfy blanket with a good book.  

Altman, A., Anthes, E., & Heller, N. (2016, December 18). The year of Hygge, the Danish obsession with getting Cozy. The New Yorker. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-year-of-hygge-the-danish-obsession-with-getting-cozy. 

 This Week at Falvey  

Monday, Nov. 8

Mindfulness Mondays / 1–1:30 p.m. / ZOOM / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Wednesday, Nov. 10

Fall 2021 Falvey Forum Workshop Series: Mapping Demographic Data with Social Explorer / 12:30–1:30 p.m. / ZOOM / Register Here 

Friday, Nov. 12

The 2021 Grade Studies CLAS Research Symposium / 1–4 p.m. / Connelly Center Cinema / Free & Open to the Public 

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30–4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public 

Scholarship@Villanova Talk Featuring Bess Rowen, PhD, on “Impossible Things Happening Every Day: The Possibilities of Impossible Stage Directions” / 3–4:30 p.m. / Room 205 

This Week in History 

Nov. 10, 1969–Sesame Street Debuts 

On Nov. 10, 1969, Sesame Street made its broadcast debut before going on to teach many generations of kids about the alphabet and how to count (with Count von Count, of course!) Sesame Street ultimately became the most viewed children’s television program in the world, airing in more than 120 countries.  

Miss your childhood days of watching Sesame Street? Watch this fun clip to reminisce and find out what the letter of the day is: Sesame Street | Letter of the Day: S | PBS KIDS 

Want to learn more about the psychology behind Sesame Street? Read the chapter on Sesame Street in Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.  

“Sesame Street” Debuts. (2009, November 24). Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sesame-street-debuts

Jenna Renaud is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library.

Did You Know?

In lieu of a word of the week this week, I’ll be sharing some fun bird facts in honor of our bird-focused events this Thursday! 

Did you know? In the 1800s the snowy egret’s wispy plumes were literally worth their weight in gold. 

Did you know? Spotted sandpipers constantly bob their tails; people call them teeter-peeps and tip-tails. 

Did you know? The red-bellied woodpecker’s tongue reaches out 2 inches for insects, but seeds are half of their diet. 

All of these bird facts came from the game Wingspan, which is a MUST HAVE for any table-top game lovers out there. 

This Week at Falvey  

Monday, Nov. 1

Mindfulness Mondays / 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. / ZOOM / https://villanova.zoom.us/j/98337578849 

Wednesday, Nov. 3  

Fall 2021 Falvey Forum Workshop Series – Policy Map: Selecting, Mapping and Downloading 21st Century Policy Data / 12:30–1:30 p.m. / ZOOM / Register Here 

The Interfaith Human Library: Where Books Talk and We All Learn About Life in a Multi-Faith World / 4-5:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Register Here  

Thursday, Nov. 4

“A Bird, Came Down the Walk”: A Creative Writing Workshop Celebrating Birds as Familiar and Unfamiliar Presences Through Poetry / 4-5 p.m. / DeLeon Room (SAC 300) 

Birds of North America: A Reading and Artist’s Talk / 6-7:30 p.m. / Room 205 

Friday, Nov. 5

Villanova Gaming Society Meeting / 2:30-4:30 p.m. / Speakers’ Corner / Free & Open to the Public 

This Week in History 

November 4, 1922 – Entrance to King Tut’s tomb is discovered 

British archaeologist Howard Carter and his workmen discover a step leading to the tomb of King Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. 

When Carter first arrived in Egypt in 1891, most of the ancient Egyptian tombs had been discovered, though King Tutankhamen, who had died when he was 18, was still unaccounted for. The most splendid architectural find inside the newly discovered tomb was a stone sarcophagus containing three coffins nested within each other. Inside the final coffin, which was made of solid gold, was the mummy of the boy-king Tutankhamen, preserved for more than 3,000 years. Most of these treasures are now housed in the Cairo Museum. 

History.com Editors. (2010, March 04). Entrance to King Tut’s tomb discovered. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/entrance-to-king-tuts-tomb-discovered

Want to read more about Carter’s journey? Read this book from Falvey’s collection! 

Jenna Renaud is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library.