This week we discussed plans for our courses and for supporting students in the weeks following November 3rd. Including the following:
Preparing for class on November 4th
Many of us experienced class after the 2016 elections and felt that expecting to cover course content on Nov 4th is unwise. Several of us wished we had instead prepared an activity to facilitate reflection and help students think about self-care. The Nashman Center’s Will Brummett developed this document to help facilitate just this kind of activity. All are welcome to use and adapt it to their own context. Personal Post-Election Preparedness Reflection Exercise document
On the other hand, it was pointed out that if you are a students’ third class on Nov 4th, they may be tired of discussing it and wishing for a mental break. Good advice was to have an activity prepared to begin class by “taking the temperature.” Allowing space for students to tell any stories they need to, to vent, to share hopes and fears, and also space to share that they were hoping for class content to have a moment to take their minds off of the news.
We discussed being thoughtful about ways to help students feel seen and heard when class together and can’t see body language. There is an emotional but also potentially physical toll to consider. In 2016, one faculty member had students in the classroom who had been accosted by Trump supporters who were celebrating on and near campus.
Be mindful of the diversity of political perspectives that are possible in the classroom as you plan these reflections.
In the case that tension and continued ambiguity about the outcome of the elections may continue for weeks or more, we will have to continue to acknowledge with students that the world outside our classrooms affects our ability to be present.
Considerations for connecting course content to think and make meaning of the moment in less alarmist ways than are likely on social media or mainstream media in the moment.
- What can we learn from history, from experiences of people from other cultures, etc. about dealing with traumatic events?
- How do we use critical thinking skills to discern all the information coming out right now? Do students see examples of fallacies of reasoning in the news and social media they are consuming?
- Can students examine how the election results are shared and discussed in terms of communications theory, the framing of messages, how data is depicted in graphic design, etc?
We considered our own situations. What is our own level of anxiety?
Living in DC are you used to “having two bags?” One if you need to shelter in place and one if you need to get out of town quickly? This is possibly a vestige of the post 9-11 days when we realized suddenly that DC was a target for terrorism. One person compared it to living in an earthquake-prone city.
Will you discuss these kinds of preparations with students? The FBI has already identified states more likely to experience domestic terrorism (militia) responses to the election results. Our students are obviously in all of them. At minimum, they might be prepared for a "snow-day" level response, in which they will want to have enough groceries to not need to leave their home for a day or two. How to have this discussion without creating even more anxiety? Be prepared, not panicked.
If students ask us for advice about joining any marches or protests, are each of us prepared for our response?
Think in advance about how to constructively focus their angry energy, be prepared for your answer to this question. Students need to be safe and take precautions, which includes COVID as well as the usual safety precautions in such events.
Encourage virtual ways to participate in protest.
Use class time to do small group discussions of their own concrete ways to creatively take action in ways that are safe. Open up the classroom for discussion.
The Nashman Center’s guidance is that no GW course or program should engage students in the community in person. However we do acknowledge that many of our students will want to be involved on their own initiative. There are no policies that would stop a student from taking their own independent action.
Resources
The Nashman Center is busy planning intentional programming for students during this period. These discussion and reflection sessions will create space for students to share how they are handling these unusual times, as well as discussing the question, “What can we do now?” from a variety of pathways to engagement: service, political involvement, organizing, fundraising, research and inquiry, and others. These opportunities will be posted on our website under GWVotes.
Note there are many recent posts in the Nashman Faculty Update Blog with articles and resources shared from professional associations regarding this issue. Visit the blog and choose the category: “Civic Participation/Public Good”
The 6th Annual GW Diversity Summit, "Past. Present. Future. What will our legacy be?" is November 11th-13th and will be a great opportunity for students to further engage about political and social justice issues they care about, including the election results.
If you are concerned about a particular student, you are asked to please submit a Care Team Referral and/or connect them with the GW Counseling and Psychological Services Center.
Staff and faculty have access to the Well Being Hotline, GW's Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which offers resources to manage your daily life needs at no cost to you. The hotline provides around-the-clock, confidential counseling (up to assistance ranging from life event planning to personal counseling) from highly trained master's- and doctoral-level clinicians.
I also encourage you to review a recent blog post from the Nashman Center’s Will Brummett, which includes an activity he has used to start facilitating these discussions with students.
Tricia Arnold shared this document on facilitating “Hot Moments”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tuMuMVnI7soHLcTNxzCTqcpkun0ASHW_WvNuxphyyxA/edit
Note that Tricia Arnold and Daphna Atias will be hosting a post-election conversation with faculty on November 5, 10am, (Link to come).
