2020 Annual Report

The year 2020 marked a series of firsts for the world collectively, as well as for each of us individually. The impact of COVID-19 has been so pervasive that it has altered all aspects of our lives. Even the English language was not spared and an unscheduled update had to be made in its dictionaries to include new terms such as COVID-19, Corona virus, patient zero, community spread, contact tracing,
social distancing and self-quarantine, to name a few. It has been a year of change, weathering uncertainty, ambiguity and vagueness. 2020 has been a year of loss, as we collectively grieved the changes in our ways of living and also the loss of lives. The simple acts of meeting family, innocently hugging our elders, having a coffee and chatting with a friend, or consoling loved ones suddenly evoked feelings of fear and uncertainty.

Collectively we scrambled as we got accustomed to new ways of being, working and interacting. Professionally, we searched a plethora of online platforms to schedule online meetings, teaching and research collaborations. We struggled with ‘legacy hands’ and remembering to ‘unmute’ as we tried to remain connected and continue with our academic projects.