the single best legacy from lockdown in academia is online seminars and it remains absolutely baffling to me that university admin (and to some extent, many older*/senior academics) are so resistant to remote seminars i have learned *so much* from seminars i would have *never* been able to attend

My kid who works fulltime is doing grad school remote and it is majority synchronous online. Keeps him anchored without tying him down so that work would be impossible. Zooms with advisors. Much happier than I was in grad school because it doesn't rob him of adult life.

The old and bold hate the loss of control and importance in remote sessions....

Strong agree. Our seminar series remains in person only, mostly out of fear that it would look bad if we flew in someone and no one came to their talk in person. That seems a really unlikely outcome, though. If nothing else, students in the building would come for the snacks.

when you live in New Zealand the utility of online seminars becomes extremely obvious. it's *so* expensive to get anywhere else.when you live in New Zealand the utility of online seminars becomes extremely obvious. it's *so* expensive to get anywhere else.

yes, of course there is something to be said for in-person chats and networking and all the rest but there are people i have worked with for years now that I have barely ever seen in person. it’s absolutely possible to have a coffee with someone over Zoom.