Lessons from a Pandemic (original) (raw)

2020, Journal of Music Teacher Education

Life and work, as we knew them, were immeasurably changed this spring. On Wednesday, March 11, I had my last in-person class meeting with instrumental methods students. Soon after, the University of Colorado Boulder chancellor informed faculty that all classes would move online the following Monday. On Thursday, March 12, I had my last brainstorming sessions with dissertation advisees and graduate assistants. And on Friday, March 13, I gathered materials from my office and prepared to teach classes, advise students, plan research, and edit a journal-all at a distance-for the remainder of the semester. Ever since, I have been hunkered down in my den at home, trying to make sense of a world engulfed in a major pandemic. Who knew that toilet paper would become a precious commodity? Did we have any idea there were federal stockpiles of ventilators and other medical supplies? Were we familiar with the accomplishments of Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx before they were appointed to the White House Coronavirus Task Force? Consider the many words and phrases that have become part of our everyday parlance: "novel coronavirus," "COVID-19," "with an abundance of caution," "flattening the curve," "social distancing," "community spread," "contact tracing," "immunocompromised," "presumptive positive," and "personal protective equipment or PPE." It is as though the everyday citizen decided to pursue a doctorate in epidemiology and critical care. Science is now in the spotlight, positioned by many as a necessary counterbalance to political tomfoolery and medical quackery. As much as we may squirm over the epistemology of facts and truths, that is exactly what the public has been seeking and what ethical journalists operating as fact checkers have been hawking. But, as Albert Einstein observed, "Any fool can know. The point is to understand." Grassroots understanding is aided by the amazing amount of COVID-19 data being collected, analyzed, and disseminated. Case data for individual states, the United States, and the world have been reported by various public health agencies and then consolidated at research institutes and medical centers. One of my go-to sites is the