Myself, Scott Rosner and Carla Varriale-Barker are “The three,” the three members of our Columbia faculty teaching in what’s called a Hy Flex Environment this semester. One thing that has been stunning is not balancing those in the room with those following remotely, of adjusting to wearing a mask or having a camera all the time on you.
What has been profound is the silence.
When class ends even more so than when it begins, all there is is silence. No students buzzing about in discussions, no halls filled with the changing of classes, no announcements or bells ringing, no groups of students gathered sharing a drink or some thoughts, no one rushing in at the last minute.
Nothing. Silence.
One recent Thursday I was sitting outside…alone…on a way too quiet campus after class finishing a cup of coffee and reading through some notes when I realized I was sitting in front of the gates from the North Dutch Church, which was once at Wall and Water streets in Lower Manhattan, and was the home of the graduation of King’s College in 1803. King’s College was the precursor to Columbia, and one of its early graduates was Alexander Hamilton, whose likeness remains in front of Hamilton Hall on campus.
For those who have seen the musical, read Ron Chernow’s book or know any details about Hamilton, he and his wife Eliza moved uptown to what is now Washington Heights following the death of their son. Not too far from where I hold class today.
It got me to thinking how we are now “Quiet Uptown,” as well, one of the hallmark, and saddest songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award winning and iconic musical. I realized we on our quiet campus in these turbulent times have much to still learn from our Founding Fathers, so I took a shot (another “Hamilton” reference) and penned a draft of thoughts on what it is like to be on campus while so many are at home or elsewhere Zooming in. Scott added and refined to the draft, I think again The Founding Fathers would give us a tip of the hat for written collaboration, and we offered it up to Sport Business, who published the piece here. Click on and check it out.
I also pasted it below, with some of the apropos images, and our own Huzzah to the talented creators and cast of “Hamilton.” We hope you are back on stage soon.
“Pick up a pen, start writing/I wanna talk about what I have learned/The hard-won wisdom I have earned.”
As faculty in the Sports Management program at Columbia University and huge theater fans, we thought it appropriate to borrow liberally from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliant musical Hamilton about a certain former Kings College (now Columbia) student to “tell the story of tonight” – the fall 2020 semester to date.
As we quietly go about our roles as faculty at the university that Hamilton himself attended (then in lower Manhattan, now in Morningside Heights), we often think about the saddest song in the musical, “It’s Quiet Uptown” – where Hamilton and his family move from the hustle and bustle of lower Manhattan to what is now Washington Heights after the tragic loss of his son.
He walks the streets of the city amidst its quietness, alone with his thoughts. New York and the campus are certainly quiet uptown, something which the “$10 Founding Father” may still recognize from his days in the area. It is that quietness, the lack of chatter in hallways and on campus, and even on the streets around the campus that is maybe the most unusual of our educational experience today.
“Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now/History is happening in Manhattan and we just happen to be in the greatest city in world!”
While many universities bounce back and forth with the virtues and troubles of online learning, in-class learning, and any combination thereof, our program has settled into a unique routine that consists of a mix of three hybrid (the two that we teach and Professor Carla Varriale-Barker’s sports law course) and 13 online classes. The online courses were a known entity at the start of the fall semester. The hybrid courses were the unknown and what kept us awake at night.
“I don’t pretend to know/The challenges we’re facing/I know there’s no replacing what we’ve lost.”
In the hybrid courses, students who so desire attend classes in person in very large classrooms in order to maintain social distancing in the classroom while others will participate remotely. Rosner’s course has 21 students seated in a 116-person lecture hall with nine learning remotely while Favorito’s has 12 students in a 96-person classroom with an additional eight learning remotely.
Teaching assistants serve as the in-class intermediaries between the students attending remotely and the faculty member. Camera people were hired and trained to do the filming in the classroom. New class attendance and participation policies were created, as were plans for asynchronous delivery for students in time zone-unfriendly places. While agility, flexibility and creativity were the guiding principles, it is logistically quite complicated.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you coulda’ been anywhere in the world tonight, but you’re here with us in New York City.”
Our students come from eight countries and nearly 20 states and with three of our classes in a hybrid modality. A majority of our students decided to come to New York City to be “in the room where it happens” and the remainder have the world as their campus while they join online.
“The world turned upside down.”
What’s it like? It’s kind of like being on stage and on screen at the same time. We try and balance the attention of those sitting in a socially distanced classroom and those online and keep them all engaged and interacting amidst any number of life’s distractions. Our camera person in the room pans to the “audience” (including cutouts of the remote students!) for reactions while the Teaching Assistant watches the reactions of those online, tracks participation and is the emcee who keeps the flow going for the students learning remotely. A program that encouraged laptop-free classes now requires everyone to be logged in.
While we are able to bring in a myriad of guests via Zoom, making sure that the picture quality, the volume and the content satisfies all is a challenge. That’s not to forget we are using WiFi in classrooms which were built in 1897, when high speed meant the creation of the phonograph and gramophone. The buildings are beautiful but not exactly state-of-the-art.
“Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors.”
Even with all the issues, we have learned and thrived off many lessons we are learning as professionals and teachers in this “Hy Flex” environment. We are seeing students, forced to learn remotely, take advantage of the cities they are in by meeting with organizations in their cities about career and networking opportunities. We are able to give our students daily exposure to an audience of high level, diverse influencers in our business who they could never engage with because of time and distance.
We are seeing resilient students who have made it to New York from around the country and world use the time they have in the city to work together and experience a city that is different but still diverse and engaging. We have been forced to recreate a potential learning environment of the future because of the challenges presented today. It has helped us to think differently, to listen differently, and to even act differently as the experience of every day becomes a lesson for us all.
“We in the s*** now/Somebody gotta shovel it.”
Now this is not ideal in any way. Colleges and universities are losing vital revenue, and students are forced into a learning system that is evolving but is not anywhere near what they had anticipated pre-Covid-19. However, we see in our students and our faculty and staff that the real classroom we have – the global classroom that is still very vibrant, and one that is even less confined by walls and buildings than we had thought. It has given us a look into the future and let us think more about what we can do to change and improve all we have around us in a learning environment.
“You’ll be back/Like before/I’ll fight the fight and win the war”
It is a true experiment, one we are all engaged with, and as educators, especially in a changed New York, we are growing, sharing and, yes, learning like never before. It is an environment that we think Hamilton would appreciate, given the chaotic times he lived in. Hamilton adapted to a new city and changing circumstances, and so are we. And some day, “They’ll tell the story of tonight.”
