The various safety protocols maintained on campus this year are unprecedented in the history of the college. Every department has faced challenges because of these protocols. This article highlights the unique experience of three departments in particular: theatre, foreign language and music.
Professor of theatre since 2000, Camille Hallstrom said of the unusual pandemic semester, "It's been absolutely exhausting. I really have had no free time since the semester started, and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel." Hallstrom continued, "It has made the work much longer, much more intensive. I am tired all the time." This exhaustion stems from the effort expended revamping this semester's production and the significantly longer hours Hallstrom has maintained.
Because of the various pandemic guidelines, the Theatre Department is unable to accomplish a live performance, as was first realized this spring with the production of “The Sound of Music.” However, despite this loss, Professor Hallstrom is leading the Theatre Department in making a movie of an early 20th century adaptation of “Everyman,” what Hallstrom calls "a very COVID-era play." This represents Covenant College's debut into film. The characters of the film will have masks as part of their costume design and distancing is maintained during the filming, with the exception of brief moments for dramatic effect.
The Theatre Department is not the only department that has faced challenges in their practice. Dr. Finch, a professor in the Music Department, says that mask-wearing and distancing diminishes the sense of embodiment inherent in the practice of music. Since the early spring, his department has recognized that there would be challenges to accomplishing their work this semester. However, these challenges have invited creativity in response.
The Music Department has identified solutions for each portion of the orchestra and for every singer for the various difficulties they face. Choir sings outdoors physically distanced for seven minutes at a time before breaking briefly. Remote individuals join via Google Meet and follow along. The singers of the Music Department will perform in a concert on November 12 joined together with orchestra and jazz ensemble in the West Pavilion behind Carter, which Finch calls the "tabernacle."
Orchestra has limited numbers on stage, featuring only string players and some woodwind. Brass players are meeting outdoors with nylons capping their bells (imagine a stocking on the end of a tuba) due to space constringency on stage. Jazz is meeting with a remote Jim Ward. Of particular interest are the Music Department's voice lessons, which have utilized a technology called Soundjack to allow individual lessons to be carried out with remote accompaniment so as to reduce risk of viral transmission.
Despite these strides forward, Finch laments the losses, particularly for the freshman class. Their first experience at Covenant College has been somewhat topsy-turvy, lacking much of the ethos of the pre-COVID-19 era. Finch also echoed the exhaustion of Hallstrom, even expressing discouragement over the lost ethos, the sense that something rich is missing from the Covenant culture this semester.
The Foreign Language Department has also experienced its unique challenges. Dr. Jiewon Baek, Assistant Professor of Foreign Language, has felt the loss of visual communication in her language classes. She explained, "Seeing the mouth helps a lot in comprehension and communication." Baek has found it difficult at times to comprehend students behind the mask, but navigating guidelines and meeting in the classroom have, in her words, "been worth the time and energy."
Baek misses the energy of the classroom. Face-to-face interaction usually provides both student and professor energy to continue in their work; now that interaction is diminished and the energy is, too.
The coming weeks will continue to prove challenging to professors and students alike. Looking forward to the remainder of the semester and the spring to come, students can be confident that their professors are devoted to their callings to teach and guide students in their learning.