So the time has come for us to synthesize our Post-Pandemic University dreams and nightmares in a brilliant collection of tiny tales. So much can be addressed with the power of a story, and so much can be laid bare with speculative fiction. Our collection of PPU tiny tales will be speculative-fiction-as-literature. Your micro- fictions will explore possibilities in a society which may not yet have been enacted, but are latent. Any technology or fantastical element in speculative fiction ought to have roots in what our current species can already do, or is on the road to being able to do.
It seems this whole course has been a lens on issues that are present (or near present) in the world of higher education. How is the work of “being educated” changing? And in what ways are our expectations for education changing too? How is “the enterprise” of knowledge-production shifting as we rely so much more on technology to pursue this ambition? How will the Post-Pandemic University shape our understanding of what it means to learn/grow/evolve or be “trained” for society?
I sincerely look forward to reading each and every one of your speculative PPU tales. As the collection comes together in the Arganee Journal, we will then be able to consider the implications that emerge from your collective response to these pivotal questions.
When we meet for our final class, each of you will have a moment to share your work-in-progress. We will treat our last class like an “Author’s Chair” round-robin.
….What is an “Author’s Chair”? This protocol is typically the final component of writer’s workshop. During this 10 minute block, individual students share their writing with an audience of classmates. After sharing, peers provide structured feedback. This process supports authors in their journey towards becoming flourishing writers.
So…this means everyone will take the chair at some point to share their concept-in-progress, or walk us through a rough draft of their tiny PPU tale.
I look forward to the vision, the imaginative meanderings, and the inspiration!!! See you all soon :)…