Residential Spread

This week, we talk new COVID variants--which are far more contagious--and schools that aren't updating their protocols to address these new challenges.

"Still going to the grocery store? With new virus variants spreading, it’s probably time to stop": https://www.vox.com/22220301/covid-spread-new-strain-variants-safe-grocery-store-n95-masks-vaccine?fbclid=IwAR3Cu9YpfO4rcotJY69qxJkJ-vRzuJsBEB4kD3dwQNVyfBbXq5uC0hT34ok

"What you can do to avoid the new COVID variant right now": https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/well/live/covid-b117-variant-advice.html

"Emerging Coronavirus variants may pose challenges to vaccines": https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/health/coronavirus-variants-immunity.html

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lE0auZq30yamn15t0LRifDE7nIOfL-9BDX9wSMP3Td4/edit?usp=sharing

We're back! We kick off the new season by taking stock of the state of the pandemic--and higher ed--at the start of the Biden administration.

"Joe Biden to speed release of COVID-19 vaccines upon taking office" https://abc7news.com/biden-covid-vaccine-joe-covid-19-vaccination-appointments-how-to-get/9468172

"Biden's Choice for Education Secretary": https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/04/biden-selects-miguel-cardona-education-secretary

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10bifbS010GJBVTkmRyOkohfMi_11EgE3vI12NrPeDcg/edit?usp=sharing

Residential Spread will be back with our first full episode of season two next week. For now, enjoy this brief teaser, in which we offer resolutions for the show and for ourselves. 

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16GQURGG32mt_NevjUchzM6_752wMT1DLp3xfb7duTUQ/edit?usp=sharing

In our first season finale, we give higher ed their final exam. To help us, we welcome Benjy Renton (@bhrenton). Benjy tells us how he went from a student in a cancelled study abroad program to one of the foremost experts in COVID-19 and higher education, what schools did right (and wrong) in the fall, and how they can re-think definitions of success in the spring. 

A brief fact-check: two days after we recorded this episode, the New York Times updated its campus COVID case number to 324,000, and even more people connected to the White House tested positive.

"College COVID Outbreak Watchlist"

"Where We Stand with COVID-19--November 13"

"Benjy Renton '21 Garners National Recognition for Contact Tracing the White House"

Transcript

Colleges are increasingly using social media “stars” to advertise the “college experience” and build their brands. But what happens when they get COVID on campus?

"What Happens When College Social Media Influencers Get COVID?"

"Welcome the COVID Influencer"

"Big Influencers on Campus"

"Colleges are Hiring Students as COVID Safety Influencers"

"Now Influencers are Throwing Parties at Colleges Across the Country"

Transcript

This week, we are joined by Mark Sample, associate professor and chair of Digital Studies at Davidson College. Mark helps us better understand the purpose of the now-ubiquitous COVID-19 dashboard. Do these dashboards give you an important snapshot of the state of the pandemic on your college campus or in your state? Or are they simply the "Best Deception"?

"A Tool to Inform Too Often Confuses"

We Rate COVID Dashboards

"Mission Control: A History of the Urban Dashboard"

"Behind Georgia's COVID-19 Dashboard Disaster"

Episode Transcript

Recently, people across the United States have begun putting a lot of faith into statistical models produced by number crunchers that are meant to tell us something about future events. No, we aren't talking about the 538 election forecast! We are talking about the spread of COVID-19 spread in schools. Special guest Lindsey Grubbs joins us to walk us through how to think critically about data is gathered, presented, and interpreted. 

Transcript

Links

"Schools Aren't Superspreaders"

COVID-19 School Response Dashboard

"Georgia Withholds School COVID-19 Count from the Public"

"Local Leaders Scrounge for Coronavirus Clues as de Blasio Ceases Public Early Warnings of Outbreaks"

"Inside the Schools Open Full Time Right Now: What the Data Really Tells Us about COVID-19 Transmission and Safety in the Classroom" 

"Return of students to US colleges probably led to surge in Covid cases"

Over the summer and into the fall, students, faculty, and staff participated in Die Ins to protest their colleges' re-opening plans. This week, we trace the history of the Die-In protest. Where did it come from? What are its advantages and limitations as a tool to push back against university administrations during the COVID-19 pandemic? 

"Surviving and Thriving: AIDS Activism Then and Now"

"Short History of the ADA Sit In"

NPR Throughline: "ADA Now!"

Transcript

This week, we are joined by Nathan Kalman-Lamb (@nkalamb), Lecturing Fellow at Duke University and co-host of of the End of Sports podcast (@EndofSportPod). Nathan helps us answer an important question: why the hell are we playing college football during the COVID-19 pandemic? We also force him to play a game of "Who said it?: College Football Coach, College Administrator, or GOP Politician." The game is harder than it sounds!

"Cancelling the College Football Season Isn't Enough"

"LSU's head coach: 'Most' of our players have had COVID"

"SEC tells players COVID cases 'on every single team' are unpreventable"

"SEC warns of fines, bans for coronavirus protocol violations"

"Why America Needs College Football"

"Why America Needs College Football--Part 2"

Episode Transcript

Who is responsible for maintaining the "campus experience" that schools continue to sell to students during a pandemic that makes campus life inherently unsafe? As Brittain Fellow Kent Linthicum discovered when he sought to answer that question, in Georgia Tech's School of Literature, Media, and Communication, contingent faculty have been tasked with teaching the vast majority of in-person classes. This week, Kent joins us to discuss why those of us with the least job security are being put into the riskiest situations.

"Course Delivery and Contingency During COVID-19"

Transcript