hump day message

[Bill Maurer]

    Dear social sciences faculty, grad students, lecturers, and staff,

    We hosted our 7th "Zot Zeries" today with Tom Boellstorff (Anthropology)
    in Second Life, where he's constructed an island in which to hold
    his class this quarter. Amazingly enough, all the technology worked
    relatively smoothly, with Tom and his colleague Beth O'Connell of the
    Virtual Worlds Best Practices for Education group speaking from within
    Second Life, with an audience of around 30 who explored the island with
    them, while another 80 or so of us watched and participated via Zoom. I
    guess you had to be there. You can relive the experience by watching
    the video. For me the most interesting thing to learn was that people
    interacting in Second Life do not experience the Zoom fatigue many of
    us feel, perhaps because avatar placement and proximity convey so much
    more social information than boxes of faces on our Zoom screens. (And
    thanks again to Andy Hill and Social Sciences Computing Services for
    helping us hold yet another successful event!).

    Also, check out our new issue of Be Bold, the annual Social Sciences
    magazine spotlighting student, alumni and faculty achievement which we
    distribute to our graduating class each year and share with the wider
    community. Hats off to Heather and her team for such a terrific and
    eye-catching expression of our collective spirit!

    Soon, faculty members will be receiving an important message from
    Associate Dean Mike McBride on ramping up research. We've got weeks to
    go before we get there, but planning now can help us get ready to begin
    to conduct research in our campus facilities when the state enters Stage
    2. Even when the Governor declares it, however, it will still take time
    for us to ramp up to the goal for the campus' Phase 2 of 30% of normal
    research activity--which is based on an overall risk assessment based on
    projected population density in campus buildings to mitigate transmission
    of the coronavirus. Please, please read Mike's message carefully when
    it hits your inboxes.

    We are also preparing new resources for people getting ready to teach
    in Summer and Fall. Associate Dean Castellanos will provide updates in
    the coming weeks.

    Onward!

    Bill