ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
There is a time for departure
/There is a time for departure, even when there’s no certain place to go. -Tennessee Williams (Born: March 26, 1911)
Articles of interest about the virus (& higher ed) - March 25
/***THE VIRUS
How to Handle Packages During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Coronavirus Sets the Stage for Hacking Mayhem
The psychological toll of coronavirus coverage
The Doctor Who Helped Defeat Smallpox Explains What's Coming
***WORKING DURING THE VIRUS
People Are Looping Videos to Fake Paying Attention in Zoom Meetings
How To Work From Home Most Chaotically
What Employees Need to Know Amid the Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak
***HIGHER ED
North Carolina College Investigates Use of Force by Officers
Small colleges were already on the brink. Now, coronavirus threatens their existence
***TEACHING DURING THE VIRUS
Google and YouTube Launch Remote Learning Tools for Parents and Teachers
15 Moments That Perfectly And Hilariously Capture Online Classes In The Time Of The Coronavirus
From Zoom University to the Zoom Party
All of Poynter's courses are now free
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Working from home during COVID-19 proves challenging for faculty members
The Move to Online College is Hitting Adjunct Professors the Hardest
University of Memphis instructor dies in Wisconsin from COVID-19 Complications
Will the coronavirus kill off the ‘dinosaur’ world of academic publishing?
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Liberty University students returning to campus dorms amid coronavirus shutdowns
Christian Colleges Should Interact With World, Not Oppose It (opinion)
How Christian higher education responded to a pandemic
Students sue to stop Christian university from merging with art college in Tennessee
***STUDENT LIFE
Study abroad students caught by international border closures
Students Are Scrambling After Universities Close. Churches Can Help
leaping
/Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. –Gloria Steinem (born March 25, 1934)
Casting Doubt
/A lot of people still think of propaganda as the art of making lies sound truthful, but...they want to make truthfulness an irrelevant category. It’s not about proving something, it’s about casting doubt. Most political ideologies have not been about casting doubt — they’ve claimed to be telling the truth about the way the world is or should be. But this new propaganda is different. Putin isn’t selling a wonderful communist future. He’s saying, we live in a dark world, the truth is unknowable, the truth is always subjective, you never know what it is, and you, the little guy, will never be able to make sense of it all — so you need to follow a strong leader.
Sean Illing & Peter Pomerantsev in a Vox interview
the problem of love
/Most people see the problem of love primarily as that of being loved, rather than that of loving, of one’s capacity to love. Hence the problem to them is how to be loved, how to be lovable. -Erich Fromm (born March 23, 1900)
For Jesus
/For Jesus there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only people to be loved. -Henri Nouwen
as we shall forget
/We have nothing to fear the future except as we shall forget how God has led us in the past. (adopted from Ellen G. White)
Articles of Interest about the virus (and higher ed) - March 19
/***THE VIRUS
How to Not Completely Hate the People You’re Quarantined With
10 misconceptions about the 1918 flu, the 'greatest pandemic in history'
Federal government in talks with tech groups to use phone location data to track coronavirus
Inside the Pro-Trump Facebook Group Where First Responders Call Coronavirus a Hoax
The Trump Administration Drove Him Back to China, Where He Invented a Fast Coronavirus Test
Israeli Gov using phone tracking to alert people potentially exposed to the coronavirus
***FALSE INFO ABOUT THE VIRUS
National Enquirer blasted for coronavirus ‘cures’ fake news
CVS sent false coronavirus information to staff
Coronavirus in Africa: Facebook, Twitter fight misinformation
***THE VIRUS & HIGHER ED
The Dept of Ed issues new guidelines on accreditation in the time of the pandemic
Amid Coronavirus, Some College Students Have Nowhere To Go
What Is a College Education in the Time of Coronavirus?
The virus and religious freedom
College enrollment officers report concern filling fall classes
***HIGHER ED FINANCES DURING THE VIRUS
Coronavirus could affect college enrollment and college’s bottom line
Moody's lowers higher ed outlook to negative amid coronavirus crisis
Pomona College students Refuse to Leave Campus
***HIGHER ED
University of Michigan removes provost amid allegations of sexual misconduct
Palomar College at high risk of insolvency so state assigns fiscal monitor
Will Shift to Remote Teaching Be Boon or Bane for Online Learning?
How will for-profit colleges fare in the recession?
Federal judge dismisses Title IX lawsuit filed against the University of Arizona
***TEACHING
As classes move online, some colleges are choosing to go pass/fail to relieve student stress
Five Ways to Promote Student Autonomy in Online Discussions
Adobe is Giving Everyone 2 Months of Free Creative Cloud -- Here's How To Get It
***ACADEMIC LIFE
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
How Christian Colleges Have Been Revising Student Handbooks Since Obergefell
Christian Colleges Should Interact With World, Not Oppose It (opinion)
Point Loma grad wins Miss Asia USA, becomes Global Ambassador
Bob Jones University Regrets Not Telling Victim to Go to Police
***RESEARCH
Want to do better science? Admit you’re not objective
Why are hundreds of papers retracted every year?
Hundreds of scientists have peer-reviewed for predatory journals
the most difficult of all our tasks
/For one human being to love another: That is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. -Rainer Maria Rilke
Articles of Interest about religion, the virus, and teaching - March 17
/***THE VIRUS
Coronavirus may drive more high school seniors to in-state public colleges
Social distancing prevents infections, but it can have unintended consequences
Coronavirus Rumors: Running List Of Fake News, Hoaxes, Disinformation
***TEACHING DURING THE VIRUS
Welcome to Your Hastily Prepared Online College Course - McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
Bringing Your Course Online: Resources from MLA
Suddenly trying to teach humanities courses online? Here's what the experts recommend
Zoom videoconferencing is very popular. It has bigger plans
Why College Students Are One Of The Most Affected Groups By COVID-19 Outbreak
How to Help Students Who Are at Risk of Dropping Out
***RELIGION & THE VIRUS
SoCal Church Offers a Drive-In Mass in Keeping With COVID-19 Guidelines
Evangelical preacher claims to cure coronavirus through TV
California mega-church cancels its ‘faith healing’ hospital visits, citing coronavirus
You’d think God could target the problem better by only giving “them” the virus!
Los Angeles Times postpones Festival of Books due to coronavirus
Churches are closing doors, live streaming services for congregants avoiding coronavirus
Liberty University Moves Classes Online Despite Falwell's Initial Coronavirus Skepticism
COVID-19 Forces Hundreds of Bible Study Fellowship Classes Online
Televangelist Attempts To “Heal” Coronavirus Patients Through The TV
***RELIGION
Anti-gay sign in religious leader’s yard sparks protest outside Bossier City church
Do Christian Churches Care About the Climate Crisis
Museum of the Bible's Dead Sea Scrolls are fake, analysis shows
Did Jack Welch's Evangelical Faith Change the Controversial 'Rock Star' CEO of General Electric?
***RELIGION AND POLITICS
How a data-backed Christian nationalist machine helped Trump to power
***RELIGION & THE LAW
Caught between gender equality and religious liberty (opinion)
Pennsylvania opens grand jury investigation into Jehovah’s Witnesses’ cover-up of child sex abuse
Texas megachurch pastor pleads guilty to defrauding investors
***DENOMINATIONS
The first principle
/The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard Feynman
It's over
/Many people leap to the conclusion that “it is over” means that the life situation has to go. They get divorced. They walk out of the office, never to return. They leave the church. They abandon their education. They leave their country. They do these things, even though all that they were being called on to do was to leave the relation that they had had to these things. Even when the ending is literal, as it is in death, the most important relinquishment is not of the person but of the life.
William Bridges, The Way of Transitions
Articles of Interest about Lit, Journ, Writing & Lang (plus the virus) – March 15
/***THE VIRUS
A list of disinfectants and wipes to protect against spread of the coronavirus
The most ridiculous ways companies are trying to profit from the coronavirus outbreak
What Does “Exponential Growth” Mean?
Apple Confirms That Cleaning Your Phone With a Disinfectant Wipe Is Totally Fine
***EDUCATION & THE VIRUS
How to Make College Decisions When Campuses Are Closed
Your college closed early because of coronavirus. You might not get your money back
Liberty students react to decision to continue in-person classes
What will happen to college food service and custodial workers when campuses are empty?
As Coronavirus Fears Close Classes, Some Kids Are Left Behind
Why I stopped using my university-licensed Zoom account (Twitter thread)
***WORKING REMOTE
How to hide your messy room for a Zoom video conference
Not all tech employees can work from home
Resources for teaching production courses online in case of emergency
What are my rights if I stay home and miss work because of coronavirus?
***GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO
List of Live Streaming Concerts
19 Bizarre Wikipedia Pages You'll Want To Read Next Time You're Bored
Making a Plan When Planning Is Impossible
***WRITING & READING
Do Authors Write Where They Know?
The era of fake writing is upon us
Top 10 Writing and Grammar Mistakes That Even Published Authors Make
Oprah admits to 'not looking for Latinx writers' as American Dirt controversy continues
***JOURNALISM
18 journalism work-from-home tips
Illinois Gov’s office pressures newspaper to unpublish news story on progressive tax
Journalists May Get Reprieve From California Contractor Law
IPI launches new protocol for newsrooms to address online harassment
A guideline for inclusion in sports and the wider media industry
***STUDENT MEDIA
Change to Clery investigation process helps student journalists get information faster
Sacramento State's new campus media policy called unconstitutional
Retraction and apology for racist op-ed illustration choice
Article Retraction: “Sexual harassment in English Department” at Mills College
***FAKES & FRAUDS
Elite Hackers Are Using Coronavirus Emails to Set Traps
The Nigerian prince scam is still fooling people. Here’s why
***LANGUAGE
From Uptalk to Vocal Fry, Women Are Prolific Language Innovators (podcast)
***LITERATURE
Pete Buttigieg’s favorite author would maybe hate Pete Buttigieg
How to support your local indie bookstore without leaving your house
***POETRY
Broadway Is Closed. Write Poems Instead
Pulitzer Prize-Winning N. Scott Momaday Talks About His New Collection Of Poetry
John Carey: ‘In my teens I fancied myself as a poet’
Poetry Challenge: Paint A Picture With Words
***PRIVACY & SECURITY
Why so many Americans don’t talk about money
Google tracked his bike ride past a burglarized home. That made him a suspect.
The fewer the better
/The fewer words the better prayer -Martin Luther
Finding God in the Next Person
/Gandhi—who did not have a good track record as a family man—is reported to have said, “If you don’t find God in the very next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking for him further.” I would add, ‘If you don’t find God in the person who forgets to put the toilet seat down or brings home a disastrous report card or violates the 11:00 p.m. curfew, it is a waste of time looking for God further.” Families are social entities, but more importantly they are spiritual communities.
Margaret Guenther, The Practice of Prayer
Recent Articles of Interest about the Virus (as well as teaching)
/***THE VIRUS
Research: Coronavirus Can Live For A Long Time In Air, On Surfaces
Major Publishers Take Down Paywalls for Coronavirus Coverage
These surprisingly common underlying conditions make coronavirus worse
Medical Ethics and the Novel Coronavirus
Coronavirus Anti-AAPI racism incident report tracker
***THE VIRUS ANXIETY
The psychology behind why toilet paper, of all things, is the latest coronavirus panic buy
How To Stop A Coronavirus Anxiety Spiral
***COLLEGES & THE VIRUS
If my campus closes down, my job could go with it
They shut down our college because of coronavirus. Will that help?
Coronavirus Campus Shutdowns Hit Some Groups Especially Hard
***THE VIRUS & TEACHING
Please do a bad job of putting your courses online
Coursera Providing Free Access to Its Course Catalog to Universities Impacted by COVID-19
What happened when coronavirus forced my kid’s school to go online
Adobe Enables Distance Learning Globally for Schools Impacted by COVID-19
Some online teaching tools available in Amazon
***WORKING DURING THE VIRUS
In a crisis
/In a crisis the only asset you have is your credibility. -Paul Volcker
Why Toilet Paper?
/When people are told something dangerous is coming, but all you need to do is wash your hands, the action doesn't seem proportionate to the threat. The novel coronavirus is engendering a sort of survivalist psychology, where we must live as much as possible at home and thus must 'stock up' on essentials, and that certainly includes toilet paper. After all, if we run out of [toilet paper], what do we replace it with?
Stephen Taylor, The Psychology of Pandemics
everything is coming your way
/If everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane. -Steven Wright