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COVIDIAN EPOCH: Slow Slide into the New Normal

10 images Created 7 Dec 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic altered lives of students, faculty, and staff of the University of Texas at Austin in an dramatic fashion. On the last day before Spring Break, March 13, 2021, a mass email announced the cancellation of classes for the week following the vacation, that students would not return to campus, and that all school interactions would occur online, primarily through Zoom.

By the Fall 2021, classes resumed employing a hybrid structure of in-person and virtual learning. The faculty and teaching assistants could not require masks or ask about a student’s vaccination status. The expectation was to not talk about Covid other than urging students to stay safe. As new variants arise, such as Delta and Omicron, whether or not the school ever will return to a state wherein masks and social distancing are unnecessary is uncertain.

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  • First-year PhD student Silvia Dal Ben Furtado talks with journalism and media Prof. Tom Johnson in the School of Journalism and Media’s third-floor quarters. A whiteboard displays one student’s sentiment, “School is hard bro….”
    02 Covidian Epoch UT 794 copy.JPG
  • As classes resumed in August 2021, faculty and teaching assistants could not require students to wear masks in classes or labs and were mandated not to inquire about their vaccination status. Masks and other personal protection equipment were in short supply at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic but now could be casually discarded.
    03 Covidian Epoch UT 543 copy.JPG
  • Mask wearing remained a personal choice for the Longhorns without any mandates. Some chose to wear them outside during their daily activities while others attended classes maskless.
    05 Covidian Epoch UT 540 copy.JPG
  • Vincent Peña, a journalism and media PhD candidate, shows fellow graduate students Emily Rubin and Benton Graham photographs of his child who was born during the school’s distance-learning period.
    06 Covidian Epoch UT 647 copy.JPG
  • In-person classes for COM 316 Photographic Communication transitioned to Zoom on the second day of class after the instructor’s child had contact with someone who contracted Covid-19. Prof. Raymond Thompson had to quarantine until the child tested negative.  <br />
<br />
A few students did not receive the last-minute announcement and stayed for the Zoom lecture in the Dealey New Media Center lecture hall. <br />
 <br />
The Covid-19 pandemic altered lives of students, faculty, and staff of the University of Texas at Austin in an dramatic fashion. On the last day before Spring Break, March 13, 2021, a mass email announced the cancellation of classes for the week following the vacation, that students would not return to campus, and that all school interactions would occur online, primarily through Zoom.<br />
<br />
By the Fall 2021, classes resumed employing a hybrid structure of in-person and virtual learning. The faculty and teaching assistants could not require masks or ask about a student’s vaccination status. The expectation was to not talk about Covid other than urging students to stay safe. As new variants arise, such as Delta and Omicron, whether or not the school ever will return to a state wherein masks and social distancing are unnecessary is uncertain.
    0A Covidian Epoch UT 758 copy.JPG
  • Social distancing signs remained throughout the Dealey building as everyone returned to class. Josh Xiao, a PhD student in journalism and media, used the unmarked urinal even though no one was nearby. The signs soon disappeared, replaced by reminders throughout the halls to try to stay six-feet apart.
    0B Covidian Epoch UT 688 copy.JPG
  • Renita Coleman, a professor of journalism and media, talks about her research with André Rodarte, Azza El Masri, and other new students in the weekly Proseminar class. Once a novelty, Zoom has morphed into the pedagogy of many courses as a way to bring speakers to students who they otherwise would not be able to meet. It also saves travel time.
    0C Covidian Epoch UT 7033 copy.JPG
  • The new Fall 2021 cohort of PhD and master’s students gather at The Hole in the Wall, a historic bar across the street from their building. While newer students to the program had a chance to quickly integrate with those around them, those came on in Fall 2020 often had to contend with isolation and the inability to make initial impressions on professors and their fellow students.
    0D Covidian Epoch UT 7084 copy.JPG
  • A section of Guadalupe Street that runs along the west side of the UT campus is affectionately referred to as “The Drag.” It contains a mix of national and local businesses that cater to the students, like one waiting to get his hair cut.
    0E Covidian Epoch UT 7106 copy.JPG
  • The bridge to a new normal, and a future with Covid-19, are uncertain. As variants like Delta and Omicron rise, chances of returning to our former way of life appear to dwindle.
    10 Covidian Epoch UT 7192 copy.JPG
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