Boston-area colleges offering pandemic-related courses for upcoming school year

The coronavirus may be shutting down classrooms this fall but it’s front and center for students and faculty at an increasing number of colleges and universities as a part of the curriculum, whether the learning is remote or in-person.

“I think these courses help people understand that timely issues are important to address in education,” said Shannon Hogan, assistant professor in STEM at Regis College in Weston.

Hogan is also the faculty lead on a new interdisciplinary course at Regis that will cover the epidemiology and virology of COVID-19, social disparities augmented by the pandemic and how the humanities help with pandemic response.

“It’s focusing on so many different areas, yet it’s coalescing so nicely in many different areas,” Hogan said.

Hogan said enrollment for the course is open and can accommodate a maximum of 20 students. He said right now, a bit under 20 students have enrolled for the class, which anybody can take regardless of their major.

The course was developed in just six weeks over the summer and Hogan said the pandemic has forced many educators to think on their feet.

“It’s really forced me to look at what I’m teaching and how it benefits our students in the future, it makes me have to be adaptable and really get creative,” Hogan said.

Regis is among many other colleges in the area that are now offering courses related to coroanvirus and the pandemic.

At Harvard, the fall course catalog includes offerings such as a freshman seminar titled “Science and Engineering for Managing COVID-19” and a psychology course called “Quarantine Blues? Pandemic Life and Mental Health.”

“In this course, we will study the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being through a clinical, social, and neuroscience lens,” reads the course description.

At Tufts University, students looking to take an economics course can enroll in the class titled, “COVID’s Economic Aftershocks.”

Also at Tufts, classes covering the link between climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic or how COVID-19 fits into the context of other global health crises such as measles, avian flu and AIDS are available.

Hogan said he believes the pandemic will continue to shape education in the future, “People are really looking for this information, they are looking to understand from may different aspects.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2FcXip7