Preface

What has happened to us as a global family, since the beginning of 2020, is the actualisation of one of the worst fears ever to be inflicted upon humanity. Powerless in the face of a worldwide pandemic, whose rapid escalation was hitherto relegated to the realms of science fiction literature, we experienced life as a form of protracted limbo, well aware that the normalcy we once enjoyed might never be recovered. And this applies to everyone, in all walks of life. Whatever segment of society we belong to, whatever our profession, our hobbies, our relationships, no aspect of our lives has been left unscathed and we have been forced to adapt to new life circumstances while striving to find that elusive silver lining. Besides the inevitable upheaval in their personal lives, as university lecturers, the editors of this volume have both experienced the move from face-to-face teaching to online instruction. In terms of technological knowhow and innovative distance learning tools and styles, we have learnt a lot, but, as is often the case, we only became aware of some of our ‘losses’ after they had gone. Therefore, rather than referring in these opening lines to the much-debated cognitive loss distance learning may occasion, we would rather start out by mentioning those things once considered futile, such as the hustle and bustle of a classroom at the beginning of a lesson, the easy jokes shared with our students, but also the direct eye-contact which enabled us to gauge not only their mood, but also any confusion or perplexity without the need for questions and the risk of ensuing embarrassment. We have also missed our social and professional encounters with colleagues, the opportunity to thrash out extemporary problems or ideas in the corridor, between classes, without the distance and time lapse inherent to online communication. To such losses, as teaching professionals in any corner and educational context of the world, we must add the difficulties of the academic community. Though the web has allowed for synchronic research, we have missed face-to-face exchanges with the community, those occasions of direct confrontation which help mould inspiration into consistent and significant research paths. Last but not least these professional changes combine with our loss in terms of social contact – those affective encounters which fuel our brain and soul.