Radius
Mar 21, 2021

The Hist Freshers’ Debate and University Challenge: Your Week Ahead

As we slip back into business as usual this week, Trinity societies have lots to keep you distracted.

Maitiú CharletonAssistant Societies Editor
blank
Alex Connolly for The University Times

Reading week is over which means you should be on top of your college work or the newest season of Attack on Titan or on top of a pile of crumpled blankets as you wait for the next week of Zoom university to begin. Whichever it may be, fret not, as online college isn’t just about watching lectures at triple speed. Trinity’s societies are still innovating and collaborating!

Monday

This week’s events are Tuesday and Wednesday skewed, so for Monday I can only suggest one event to tickle your fancy: Trinity Knitting Society (Knit Soc)’s weekly 6pm class. What’s more sustainable than making your own woollen jumpers? Depop? Never heard of her.

Tuesday

After cramming your end-of-reading-week assignments, Tuesday will provide no rest for the wicked! During the daytime (because you’ve lost the morning to a sleep-in thanks to a red bull-fuelled essay all-nighter), DU Modern Languages are hosting their language café. The 1pm Zoom social will allow you to practise your rusty school-learned languages or connect with others through the artistic flourishes of your linguistic abilities.

ADVERTISEMENT

Knit Soc have their weekly “Stitch and Bitch” event for you to realise your cottagecore dreams. Join the Zoom event from 5pm and bring two ears or a juicy story!

At 7pm you’ll have to be omnipresent or multi-deviced. In one corner of cyberspace, TCD Environmental Society is joining forces with TCD Botanical Society and DU Zoological Society to give you a natural sciences survival guide. No matter what year you’re in, the event should help you figure out how to strengthen your professional skill set while you’re still in college, from internships to volunteering!

Meanwhile, QSoc are hosting a screening of the historic film Paris Is Burning. It’s a 1990 documentary chronicling the New York city counterculture comprising African-American, Latina, queer and transgender communities.

On your third device, you can join Cumann Gaelach in collaboration with the Gaeilge Societies of University College Dublin and University College Cork to answer the age old question: An linne an Ollscoil is fearr in Éirinn? In the format of a comedy debate, beidh neart spotduaiseanna ar fáil don lucht féachana i rith na hoíche.

Wednesday

You’ll similarly want to sacrifice watching your online lectures in their scheduled slots on Wednesday if you want to keep up with society life. At 11am, the Society for International Affairs (SOFIA) are talking to Geraldine Byrne-Nason, the Irish representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York. She will be sharing insights about Ireland’s role as part of the UN and in particular our new seat on the Security Council.

At 6pm, Dublin University Business and Economics Society (DUBES), will speak to Edwina Fitzmaurice from EY. Fitzmaurice, who studied at Trinity and Harvard Business School, is the Global Chief Customer Success Officer at EY, with responsibility for an investment portfolio of over $1 billion in technology products and platforms. If anyone knows their stuff about business, it’s her – not those “rise and grind” Instagram graphics.

If, like most others, you liked the Oscar-winning film Parasite, DU Modern Languages is screening another critically-acclaimed South Korean film at 7pm. The Handmaiden is an erotic psychological thriller directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Min-hee, so bring the popcorn.

At 7:30pm, one of the biggest events of the College Historical Society (the Hist)’s annual calendar begins. The R+L debate sees Hist freshers take over the Wednesday night debate and perform the roles of the various officers. In normal times, this usually makes for hilarious theatre, including one of the fresher’s hair being dyed purple by another during a speech on a balcony. Regardless, the Zoom iteration of the event should be great fun. The motion is: “This House Believes They Were Born in the Wrong Generation”.

Thursday

Thursday is much quieter. At 4pm, QSoc are hosting a closed space for MLM (Men Loving Men) to come, chat, chill and share or just listen to each other. This event has a strict confidentiality policy so that attendees can feel safe and relaxed.

Friday

The best way you could end the week is by submitting to Trinity’s original music competition, organised by DU Music: The Song Competition. While self-explanatory, the deadline is this Friday, so get writing.

At 7:30pm, Trinity College Law Society (LawSoc), Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union and Trinity FLAC are collaborating to run a charity event in aid of direct provision charities. It will be a University Challenge-style gameshow and will be a great way to raise money while having some much-needed craic!

Sign Up to Our Weekly Newsletters

Get The University Times into your inbox twice a week.