Students Relax in Community at (Literary) Self-Care & Jane Austen Event

By Allison Schneider

Students from the Fordham English community gathered at the Lincoln Center campus on November 6th for an afternoon of delicious food, fun crafts, and a special screening of Jane Austen’s Persuasion (1995). The event, “(Literary) Self-Care & Jane Austen,” gave students a much-needed opportunity to relax in the midst of a stressful semester and a contentious election season. 

To prepare students for a calming afternoon, the LC South Lounge featured dimmed overhead lights, soothing classical music, open floor space for lounging, and the soft glow of lamps and tea candles. At the front of the room, a life-size stand-up poster of Jane Austen welcomed students into the space. Throughout the afternoon, students were invited to take photos with the cutout.

English Department students pose with a stand-up poster of Jane Austen.

Professor Sarah Gambito welcomed students into the room with open arms, encouraging them to grab food and get comfortable. The food was selected with a hearty Thanksgiving dinner in mind. The spread featured a slew of delicious options including fresh dinner rolls, cranberry salad, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, roasted vegetables, and roasted turkey. Dessert included trays of pumpkin cookies and blondies alongside mint chocolate cookies and brownies. For beverages, the event featured hot and iced tea in addition to iced water.

A student places a warm dinner roll on her plate as she surveys the food selection.

Dessert trays featured rows of holiday-themed cookies and brownie bars.

Alongside the food, event organizers arranged a table filled with crafting supplies and small gifts for event attendees. The craft supplies included string and beads for students to make friendship bracelets for themselves and each other. The activity encouraged attendees to get their creative juices flowing. Students were encouraged to reflect on the things that gave them hope and to use that as inspiration for their friendship bracelets. Other students were inspired by Jane Austen herself as they made friendship bracelets featuring titles of her books including Pride and Prejudice written in letter beads.

Students measure string and select decorative beads for their friendship bracelet craft.

At the beginning of the event, students were offered pen and paper to write down their thoughts and feelings about the week. An important part of self-care is practicing introspection and listening to what your body is telling you it needs. Some students wrote about the stress they were experiencing midway through the semester while others reflected on their feelings about the recent election results. Students were then asked to write about the things that give them hope and help them push through the pressures of daily life.

After the group writing exercise, everyone settled in to watch Persuasion (1995), directed by Roger Michell and featuring Amanda Root as heroine Anne Elliot. Persuasion tells the story of Anne’s complex relationship with her love interest, Captain Wentworth. The movie, based on Jane Austen’s novel of the same name, features elegant costumes, classical music, and true-to-the-period dialogue that immerses viewers in the world of the Elliots. It is a story about love, but also about class, womanhood, privilege, and of course, persuasion.

A student watches Persuasion projected onto the wall in the LC South Lounge.

Following the conclusion of the movie, attendees were sent home with self-care gifts including relaxing sheet masks for an at-home spa experience and special blooming tea balls. When placed in hot water, the tea balls unfold into beautiful, flavorful flowers that can be re-steeped later on. The gifts are intended to allow students to continue their self-care practices in their own time as they remember the lovely afternoon they spent in community with other Fordham English students.

A blooming tea ball gift unfolds in a glass jar to release its herbal flavors and reveal colorful petals.

Student Testimonials

I’m so grateful for every chance the English Department gives us to relax during stressful weeks and connect with people in the major over shared interests!

Beautiful event! So healing and necessary to have time to rest and reflect and be together admidst all the craziness of school and all the more “formal academic” events.

This event was LOVELY! Really bonding and wholesome, gave me a history/cultural experience. Reminded me of family! I would 100% attend more of these events, very healing.