In spring 2020, Visual Rhetoric changed dramatically in response to a pandemic. Students and the professor struggled to make sense of what "learning" and "going to college" look like in the midst of a crisis that demands people stay at home, stay away from each other, and focus on surviving. College course were expected to "resume" but we all wondered: what does higher education look like during a quarantine?
[Figure 1: Screenshot of from CDC, "Interim Guidance for Administrators of US Institutions of Higher Education," 18 Mar. 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-ihe-response.html]
[Figure 2. Timeline showing series of UMass Lowell events in response to COVID-19. Created by Jenna Vinson with Easel.ly]
[Figure 3. Photograph showing Jenna Vinson working at her desk in the living room]
Each day I enter the "office" to make video lectures, research new information, and write to meet deadlines. The house is filled with the noise of my children playing video games, Face-timing with friends, and making their meals. I find comfort and distraction in this simultaneously.
[Figure 4: Video clip of Dr. Vinson's video lecture for Visual Rhetoric Students. YouTube. 2019]
It feels like floating in an ocean of unknowns.
Where to go? How to stay confident?
Are my students feeling the "continuity of learning" that I am supposed to provide?
How do my kids feel about all of this? Are they gaining anything from their online courses projects? From my absent presence? How do I help my 12-year-old balance mental and physical health?
How do I help my 18-year-old feel confident about her future when part-time jobs are scarce and her university is closed?
I attended a meeting at the Center for Women and Work the other day. Well, I say "at" but what I mean is that we met via a video conferencing platform called Zoom. One of my colleagues paused in the middle of the meeting to assert, "This is not normal! We cannot do business as usual!" I think about this. I wonder how, with three weeks left of classes, I can create a meaningful final assignment for my Visual Rhetoric students while fully acknowledging that we are all in a new situation. They've worked hard. They've learned a lot. They want something to show for a 15-week course in Visual Rhetoric. . .
See the NEW final assignment: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n2eqd09nuv9kz6p/Visual%20Rhetoric%20Final%20Assignment%20Spring%202020.pdf?dl=0
Credits:
Tree in DeCordova Sculpture Park. Photograph by Jenna Vinson. June 2018. CC 4-Y