Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university community was under a quarantine period from Aug. 24 to Sept. 6. Students were asked to take a COVID-19 test prior to leaving home, were tested again upon arrival, and will be tested twice a week as the semester gets underway.
Through multiple platforms, including Zoom and Moodle, faculty taught all classes remotely during the first week. Following the quarantine period, faculty have the option to teach courses entirely online, in-person, or through a hybrid system through the Thanksgiving break, after which all faculty are prepared to return to distance learning.
Katja Kolcio, associate professor of dance and director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, taught her first DANC 216: Dancing During Pandemic class online during the quarantine, but she’ll move to in-person classes for the rest of the fall semester. “While the world is telling us to be remote, it’s important, more than ever, to be together in a physical way,” she said. “The pandemic is changing how we relate, stand with each other, talk and communicate, and make meaning in groups … so one of the most important ways to find our way forward is to explore: What does it mean to be in this new world? How do we orient ourselves in new conditions? How can we feel, how can we relate to one another in our physical selves?”Damien Sheehan-Connor, associate professor of economics, draws a “Utility Possibilities Frontier” figure on an iPad during his remote ECON 222: Public Economics course. This fall, Sheehan-Connor is teaching his class exclusively through Zoom. “So far it seems to be going relatively well, though it is early,” he said. “I give lectures using some mix of slides and drawing on the ‘board’ while posing questions to the class and welcoming questions that the students have.” Although he teaches in a similar way online to how he taught in-person, the most drastic change has been in how he assesses the students. He’s reduced the number of exams and added a research paper to the course requirements. “The remaining exams will also be ‘open book.’ This is not a big change since my exams tend to emphasize problem-solving and demonstrating understanding rather than testing knowledge of facts,” he said.Sasha Rudensky ’01, associate professor of art, is teaching ARST 253: Digital Photography I through a hybrid system, however she’s teaching Photo I in-person only.Johan (Joop) Varekamp, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, is teaching ENVS 361: Living in a Polluted World. This course treats the occurrences and origins, natural pathways, toxicologies, and histories of the major environmental contaminants.“My goal is that you learn something in this class,” Varekamp said during a remote class on Sept. 3. “I’ll do anything to make that happen.”
Olivia Drake
Mike Mavredakis
Jeff Harder