The largest peacetime disruption to air travel in history, the explosion cost the aviation industry hundreds of millions of dollars. Some members of the University community were among the passengers whose travel plans were disrupted by the roughly 100,000 cancelled flights.
Architecture professor Lucia Allais was giving a talk in Rotterdam, Netherlands, when the volcano erupted. After a few extra days in Rotterdam, she spent the final days of the flight cancellations with family in Paris, as her trip dragged on from four days to 10.
Allais was still overseas when it came time for her weekly freshman seminar, FRS 164: “What’s the Plan? Space as a Medium.” Seeking to maintain the class’s momentum, she elected to conduct the course via Skype.
“It’s a once-a-week class, and we had already needed to reschedule once,” she explained. “[The students] were assigned a project, so it wouldn’t be too difficult for me to respond to the presentation on Skype.”
Marianne Jullian ’13, who is taking Allais’s course, said that she and her classmates were initially surprised by the plan to conduct class virtually. “A couple of people in my class had never used Skype,” she noted.
The Skype session only lasted two hours as opposed to the usual three, with class time punctuated by a few Internet outages toward the end, Jullian said.
Italian professor Gaetana Marrone-Puglia, who was scheduled to attend a conference at the University of London on Italian theater, explained that she was set to depart on the day of the explosion, but that the organizer postponed the conference.
“The Italian college going to this conference chickened out,” Marrone-Puglia said. “They didn’t want to take the Eurostar or go to airports and wait forever ... But I was ready to take a flight.”
But, she added, “I was lucky not to go to London and be stranded for 10 days.”
The volcano also precluded several guest speakers from coming to campus.
John Hutnyk of the University of London was scheduled to give a talk sponsored by the South Asian studies program on April 20, while Robert Young of New York University was slated to speak on translation the same day. Both trips were cancelled due travel conditions.
Slow Food movement founder Carlo Petrini was also unable to make his April 21 trip to campus, sponsored by the French and Italian department, due to the eruption.
On April 22, Dame Marilyn Strathern of Cambridge University was scheduled to speak on organ and tissue donations in a talk sponsored by the anthropology department. Her talk was cancelled as well.
Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article misstated the location of Lucia Allais's talk in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Read More
Students weigh in on changes to hours at Murray-Dodge Café
Eojin ParkMurray-Dodge’s hours have been cut nearly in half. Previously, Murray-Dodge was open from 3 p.m. to midnight every day. Amid other closures of campus cafes, its hours have been reduced to 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.
Murray-Dodge’s hours have been cut nearly in half. Previously, Murray-Dodge was open from 3 p.m. to midnight every day. Amid other closures of campus cafes, its hours have been reduced to 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reflects on path to the Supreme Court in campus lecture
Isaac Bernstein and Justus WilhoitAt Princeton’s Harlan Lecture, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson discussed her journey to the Supreme Court, the power of dissenting opinions, and the importance of inspiring future generations.
At Princeton’s Harlan Lecture, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson discussed her journey to the Supreme Court, the power of dissenting opinions, and the importance of inspiring future generations.
Student employment in flux as University navigates budget cuts
Kian PetlinThe future of student employment remains uncertain amid budget cuts, with impacts ranging from reduced hours to staffing shortages.
The future of student employment remains uncertain amid budget cuts, with impacts ranging from reduced hours to staffing shortages.