Can I hold a Zoom class when my computer suddenly starts freaking out and sending me Zoom error messages every five minutes and I can’t hear my students’ questions? It turns out that yes, I can, they can type in the chat window and it works, but it is tiring and less fun.
On the plus side, I think I did a decent job of connecting Things Fall Apart and The Lion and the Jewel to our earlier readings, our later readings, and even to coronavirus’s effects on our society — both in how we construct mutual aid efforts to supplement or replace failed governments, and how we have to start to think about what kind of society we want to build on the other side of all this.
(Decoupling healthcare from jobs in America, for example, because it’s super-clear how that’s failing us. Forgiving all student loans (which would be a massive boost to the economy. Etc.)
Some of my students are bored with time on their hands, so I told them they ought to read The Bone People (which is optional for this 100-level class). Let’s raise up a new generation of society-builders, shall we?
(The Bone People is one of my 10 favorite books in the world and you should read it. Content note: graphic child abuse.)
