The writer is a professor of American Studies at Columbia, president of the Teagle Foundation and author of ‘College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be’
Four months ago, I thought “zoom” meant the sound of a motorcycle. Then coronavirus struck, students were sent home, and we faculty were given a few days to learn how to teach by Zoom for the rest of the semester.
Having scattered around the world, my students were grateful to reconnect, even if they felt that “virtual” classes were weak simulations of the real thing. The unscheduled features of college life — serendipitous hallway encounters, Frisbee on the lawn, parties, protests, love affairs — had vanished in a flash.