As the world continues to grapple with isolation and other life changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new two-volume book series of narratives compiled and edited by a team of UNLV professors and colleagues aims to engender a sense of camaraderie among readers as they navigate the ongoing ordeal.
“Corona Chronicles: Necessary Narratives in Uncertain Times” — scheduled for release this month by DIO Press — shares first-person accounts of the triumphs and challenges faced by students, parents, administrators, and community members from around the globe as they traverse the seemingly overnight changes to the educational system and socio-political landscape on top of the public health crisis.
The first volume serves as an oral history of more than 30 stories told from the perspective of K-12 students, parents, and community members. The second volume features over 30 chapters focused on the thoughts of educators — ranging from pre-K to graduate school levels — about their adjustment to new digital, social media, and other realities; leadership; and future hopes regarding the pandemic.
Editors, who began compiling the narratives in April, had to whittle down about 170 submissions to roughly 60.
“It speaks to the urgency of people to see stories in print in addition to what they’re seeing on the news,” said lead editor, UNLV College of Education professor Kenneth J. Varner. “It’s not enough to experience COVID. People want a space to engage and tell the story of COVID. This series provides people a space to resonate and find inspiration. They don’t have to experience this pandemic alone; here’s a place to dialogue and debate.”
The other editors are: UNLV College of Education professors Steven T. Bickmore, P.G. Schrader, and interim dean Danica Hays, along with colleagues David Lee Carlson of Arizona State University and Dorothea Anagnostopolous of the University of Connecticut.
