When the spring 2020 semester began, Trinity College students in the \u201cAnthropology and Global Health\u201d course had no idea just how timely their class discussions would become.<\/p>\n
Each time he teaches the course, James A. Trostle, Scott M. Johnson \u201997 Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, makes sure it addresses current health news from around the world. Early in the semester, he told students about a new coronavirus that was then taking hold in China. By the third week of class, the COVID-19 global health crisis was the most important topic in every day\u2019s news. The very disease the students were studying eventually impacted how they lived and learned, with all Trinity courses conducted remotely by the end of March.<\/p>\n
While the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded around the globe, Trostle was one of several Trinity faculty members who quickly adjusted their course curricula to study the real-time challenges presented to their respective fields. Sonia Cardenas, acting dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs, says it\u2019s not surprising that faculty would integrate real-world events like the pandemic into their courses. \u201cIt\u2019s what we do as a liberal arts college offering a broad-based, relevant, and humanistic education,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m proud that Trinity\u2019s faculty is equipping students with the capacity to think critically about today\u2019s multifaceted challenges while sharpening their skill sets for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n GLOBAL HEALTH<\/p>\n Trostle\u2019s course helps students understand public health problems and the organizations that exist to address them. The class explored topics including the meaning of a virus\u2019s reproductive number, the importance of community-based studies, and the populations and conditions in which a virus might thrive.<\/p>\n Caroline Richards \u201922 says, \u201cThe fact that we are living through COVID-19 in real time is brutal, but it is also a valuable learning experience that Professor Trostle has allowed us to take full advantage of. This alone has definitely taught everyone in this class to look at global health in an entirely new way\u2014one that is less simplistic and distanced.\u201d<\/p>\n Trostle says, \u201cThe overarching message is that we are interconnected in many, many ways, and it\u2019s in my interest as an educator to help my students understand, critique, and repair those connections in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Coincidentally, the 2019\u201320 academic year saw the introduction of Trinity\u2019s three-semester-long, interdisciplinary Global Health Humanities Gateway, co-directed by Erin Frymire, lecturer in the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric, and Diana Paulin, associate professor of English and American studies. \u201cGlobal health humanities is an emerging field of study of the human experience of health in response to increasing recognition that health and health care are so much more than just the science,\u201d Frymire says.<\/p>\n In this case, discussions of the pandemic fit easily into the syllabus. \u201cOne idea we discussed was the tension between urgency and accuracy in health communications and news. The public needs to know now, but developing scientific understanding is a slow process,\u201d Frymire says. \u201cThat resonated with students and helped them feel more equipped to interpret what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n The number of applications for this gateway program increased for fall 2020, with nearly every first-year student application referencing the coronavirus. \u201cThey see that an interdisciplinary study of health is crucial,\u201d Frymire says. \u201cThere is no facet of life that has not been affected by the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS<\/p>\n Assistant Professor of Economics Hasan Comert significantly changed the focus of his seminar, \u201cCentral Banking and Financial Innovations,\u201d to discuss the volatility in financial markets caused by the coronavirus and the responses of central banks. \u201cEverything was evolving quickly,\u201d Comert says. \u201cI assigned videos and financial press articles from the Financial Times<\/em>, The New York Times<\/em>, The Wall Street Journal<\/em>, CNBC, and Bloomberg.\u201d As the United States and world stock markets became more unstable, it was difficult to keep up with the latest news.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like a meteorologist watching a perfect storm and then trying to explain it,\u201d Comert says. \u201cIt was a unique and devastating event, and it\u2019s very important to learn and follow these developments as a scholar.\u201d In the first half of the semester, students developed a framework of understanding changes in financial markets and central banks, then used that knowledge to analyze the impacts of COVID-19. Comert adds, \u201cBased on their feedback, students also got a lot of out of this, and I feel it was one of my most interesting and productive teaching experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n In \u201cFiscal Policy in the United States,\u201d taught by G. Fox and Company Professor of Economics Diane C. Zannoni, students constructed a library research guide focused on the economic effects of the pandemic, with remote guidance from social sciences librarian Rob Walsh.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project is an excellent example of the intersection of current events and course curriculum,\u201d Walsh says. \u201cThe intent was for students to identify the best sources for those who might, in the future, research the policy implications of COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n Gianni Valentini \u201921 says that Zannoni designed the project midsemester, when she learned that the class was interested in delving deeper into the economic effects of COVID-19 and how fiscal policy would be implemented to help the U.S. economy. For the research guide, Valentini focused on the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill. \u201cResearching the nuances of this bill increased my understanding of how fiscal policy is exercised and how challenging it is to target components of the economy that are the most in need,\u201d he says. \u201cAs a student, having the chance to research a world-altering current event is an exciting and unique experience.\u201d<\/p>\n PUBLIC POLICY PERSPECTIVE<\/p>\n Students in Trinity\u2019s undergraduate Public Policy and Law and graduate Public Policy Programs studied what Sean Fitzpatrick, professor in the practice of public policy and urban studies, calls a \u201creal-life civics lesson,\u201d as states and the federal government grappled daily with how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n Adrienne Fulco, associate professor of legal and policy studies and director of the Public Policy and Law Program, supplemented her \u201cFederalism and Public Policy\u201d undergraduate course with current articles and online discussions connecting the day\u2019s news with topics from class.<\/p>\n \u201cThe purpose of the course,\u201d Fulco says, \u201cis to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of our system of federalism, where the states have authority over some things, the federal government has authority over others, and sometimes those come into conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n For students, the pandemic response helped to clearly illustrate the ideas introduced by Fulco. Ailani Cruceta \u201922 says, \u201cThis class really pushed me to think about the laws and rights that exist within a federal and state level. The concept of what rights the government should have in moments like this one is a concept that had never crossed my mind until this pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n Fulco adds, \u201cStudents have been applying their knowledge in a way that makes me proud. My goal is to make them well-informed; it gives them a sense that they understand what\u2019s going on, even though they can\u2019t control it or fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n Fitzpatrick\u2019s graduate-level \u201cLeadership in the Policy Arena\u201d course incorporates current issues, so it was natural to add the pandemic response to this semester\u2019s curriculum. \u201cCOVID-19 is a perfect case study because it involves government at all levels,\u201d Fitzpatrick says. \u201cThis is one of those situations where you wish you didn\u2019t have such a great example to analyze, but here it is. Academically, our students will remember this semester.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" COVID-19 woven into course content By Andrew J. Concatelli When the spring 2020 semester began, Trinity College students in the \u201cAnthropology and Global Health\u201d course had no idea just how timely their class discussions would become. Each time he teaches the course, James A. Trostle, Scott M. Johnson \u201997 Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, makes sure … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2020\/files\/2020\/09\/TRINITY-COVID-FINAL.jpg\")