Connections

ENGAGE

UVA Speaking Center Coming Spring 2025!
Apply to be a Student Consultant or an Executive Board Member by Dec. 20
Originally founded in 2021, the UVA Speaking Center served as a vital resource for students to practice and refine their public speaking skills. After several years of inactivity, we are thrilled to relaunch the Speaking Center in Spring 2025. We are looking to build a dedicated and passionate team of Executive Board members and Student Consultants to create a sustainable and long-lasting Speaking Center that will enrich the UVA Community for years to come. If you share our mission of empowering UVA students to enhance their speaking abilities and become confident, influential communicators, fill out the linked form!

Carr's Hill Open House
Dec. 5, 12 noon – 4 p.m.
Carr's Hill will be open to all students for an Open House on Thursday. Join us for snacks, refreshments, and good company. No RSVP or reservation required.

Battling Homesickness: ISA Cabinet with Student Council
Dec. 8, 5:30 – 7 p.m., Newcomb Commonwealth Room
Battling Homesickness is an event series that allows international students to find a community in a potentially unfamiliar location. We'll be hosting an ornament decorating competition paired with some holiday songs and snacks. Join us for some nice holiday vibes and warmth!

BE WELL

Free Coffee for Hoos: Friday Morning
Dec. 6, 10 a.m. – 12 noon, Student Health and Wellness
Take a break this Friday and enjoy a free cup of coffee! Discover the wide range of resources and events available to support your health and well-being. Connect with staff, learn about upcoming workshops, and explore the many ways Student Health and Wellness can help you thrive throughout your journey at UVA.

Cookies, Craft and Community
Dec. 7, 12 noon – 2 p.m., Women’s Center
As we reach the end of a long semester and an eventful year, the Women's Center Ambassadors invite you to de-stress with us in a safe, relaxing space. Enjoy gingerbread cookies, tea, friendship bracelet making, and a supportive community. Feel free to stay the whole time or drop by when you can!

Fuel for Finals
Dec. 11 and 13; 8:30 a.m., Student Health and Wellness
Swing by the first-floor lobby of Student Health and Wellness to fuel up with a snack and beverage. Then stick around and find a cozy spot in the Student Health and Wellness building to study for finals or relax with UVA word search in front of the fireplace in the first-floor Living Room or overlooking the mountains from the third-floor Student Lounge. The doors at SHW are open by swipe access with your student ID until 2 a.m.

HOUSING

Winter Break On-Grounds Housing Resources: First-Year Residence Halls Close Dec. 18 at Noon
Before heading home to see family and friends, be sure to review the Winter Break departure checklist and take note of reminders about undergraduate on-Grounds housing for Winter Break and J-Term on the Housing & Residence Life website.

Reminder: Standard Housing Application Open to On-Grounds Residents
Apply by Dec. 9
If you're a current on-Grounds resident and plan to apply to live in a new upperclass on-Grounds housing area next year, the application is now available to you. While the deadline is earlier, you can continue making roommate group changes after that date and have until March 31 to cancel. For information and resources about options, dates, and the process (including video and text instructions), please visit the HRL website.

JOBS

Position Available: Consultant on Educational AI Initiatives
Apply as soon as possible
UVA's AAC&U team seeks undergraduate students to help shape conversations around educational uses of generative AI at UVA. In this role, you will support both students and instructors in navigating the evolving GenAI landscape in higher education through the creation of resources on AI topics and co-designing and co-facilitating workshops and an AI hackathon. This position consists of about 3-5 hours per week at $15 per hour.

Now Hiring America Reads Tutors for Spring Semester
America Reads is a federal work study program that partners university students with teachers in the local schools. UVA students provide academic support for students from PreK-Grade 12. The application is now open for the spring semester.

ARTS

Tea Time Recitals
Dec. 5, 6; 1 p.m., Old Cabell Hall
UVA Music Tea Time Student Recitals are both in-person and live-streamed on the UVA Music YouTube channel. Talented UVA students present a varied menu of musical delights. Come bring your friends and enjoy the fruits of a semester's worth of musical training and practice. These events are free and open to the public. The livestream link is on our website.

Coastal Futures Festival featuring David Rothenberg
Dec. 6, 2 – 5 p.m., Contemplative Commons
UVA’s Coastal Conservatory presents the Coastal Futures Festival, an annual event blending environmental humanities, music, and science. This year, the festival will offer three sessions between 2 and 5 p.m. at the new Contemplative Commons building on Emmett Street. One of these events will feature a first listen in the Conservatory immersive sound and light room on the building’s fourth floor!

Virginia Women's Chorus 41st Candlelight Concerts
Dec. 6, 6 p.m. and Dec. 7, 3:30 p.m., University Baptist Church
Join the Virginia Women’s Chorus for their 41st Annual Candlelight Concerts, featuring Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” with harpist Anastasia Jellison. This cherished holiday tradition offers a beautiful blend of reflective and festive music under the direction of Katherine Mitchell. Don’t miss what many call “more than a concert”!

Virginia Glee Club 84th Annual Christmas Concerts
Dec. 7, 8 p.m., University Baptist Church
Dec. 8, 8 p.m., Old Cabell Hall
Celebrate the season with the longstanding tradition of holiday music from the Glee Club, under the direction of Grammy Award-winning conductor Frank Albinder. The evening will be filled with festive choral music, including beloved holiday classics and opportunities for audience participation. Tickets are available through the UVA Arts Box Office.

57th Annual Messiah Sing-In
Dec. 10, 8 p.m., Old Cabell Hall
Join singers from UVA and Charlottesville as they fill Old Cabell with Handel’s glorious music. Michael Slon conducts the Messiah Sing-In, vocalists sit in sections by vocal part, the orchestra sits on stage, and non-singers listen from the loge and balcony. Vocal scores will be available; orchestral parts are available in advance. Instrumentalists, please register on our website. Tickets can be purchased at the Arts Box Office or at the door.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra: The Lost Christmas Eve
Dec. 19, 7 p.m., John Paul Jones Arena
"THE LOST CHRISTMAS EVE" is a product of the imagination of and based on TSO’s double-platinum CD of the same name. The plot is one that resonates with people deeply over the holiday season.

TALKS

East Asia Center Presents “Navigating Narratives: Tsurayuki’s Tosa Diary as History and Fiction”
Dec. 5, 12 – 1:30 p.m., Wilson Hall 142
We are excited to celebrate the publication of Gustav Heldt’s new book. This talk will outline unique insights into Heian Japan provided by Ki no Tsurayuki’s Tosa nikki (Tosa Diary). The split between the fictional female narrator and historical male author has usually led Tosa nikki to be viewed as either the first Heian woman's memoir or the last aesthetic manifesto of one of the Japanese poetic tradition's foremost figures.

Putting the 2024 Election in Perspective
Dec. 12, 11 a.m., Miller Center and Virtual
Miller Center scholars gather to provide historical context and analysis of the 2024 presidential election in a conversation moderated by Bill Antholis, the Center's director and CEO. What analogies can we draw from history, and what may the outcome of a pivotal contest reveal about the evolution of America's political parties going forward?

Salon Research Series: “Darkness”
Dec. 12, 3:30 – 5 p.m., Contemplative Sciences Center
Join the Contemplative Sciences Center for a discussion on "Darkness," facilitated by UVA Professor of Astronomy Kelsey Johnson. This session is part of a monthly series of salons and open dialogues, held at the Contemplative Commons and centered around
cutting-edge research related to contemplation and flourishing. The gatherings convene scholars, scientists, and practitioners from diverse perspectives to exchange ideas, generate knowledge, and seek solutions to global challenges.