Collage of my evening on March 18th, 2021 during the stay-in-place week at Duke University.
This week at Duke the undergraduate community is being asked to abide by the stay-in-place policy, a policy that was enacted as a direct response to the growing numbers of COVID-19 cases last week. Last week, in the course of about four days more than 100 positive covid cases were recorded as a result of the off-campus in-person rush events hosted by Durham IFC fraternities. In turn, the whole student body on-campus has faced the consequences of these irresponsible and negligent groups of students. We must stay indoors unless we are picking up food or exercising. In my collage I included pictures I took while on a walk around West campus around 5:30pm-6:30pm. I took these pictures and this audio keeping in mind this ethnographic research and wanting to document as accurate as possible the authentic experience of being on campus during what feels like an apocalyptic time.
I use the word apocalyptic with the intention of capturing the reality of the absence of human presence while walking around campus this evening. Although people are indeed on campus much more this semester than in the fall, today’s outdoor environment does not reflect that. I am glad my peers and I are abiding by the policy that will help decrease the spread of Covid-19 on campus. Simultaneously, I am bored and seeking for anything remotely interesting the record for my audio for this ethnography. All of my pictures projected a sort of melancholy feeling because today just happened to be a humid and gloomy day. Although, many of our days this Spring 2021 semester have been gloomy, isolating and depressing at times.
One thing that caught my attention while listening to the outdoors were these intense conversations the birds seem to be having. It was overwhelming and beautiful the way birds have been noticeably taking up much of the sonic landscape of Duke’s campus as the students are often in their dorms most hours of the day. The Birds are thriving, us not so much. My audio shows how the absence of human presence outdoors generally throughout this entire pandemic has allowed for nature to have a break from our toxic carbon footprints and allow the earth to breathe.
Finally, I found it most appropriate to show my pictures as a collage as to emote the feelings of anxiety, isolation and confusion that many college students have been experienced during the pandemic. I included some Duke specific symbols of the pandemic such as the Duke United signs and the BC plaza tent to document the kind of visual reminders of the pandemic that Duke students on campus see everyday. These symbols are both reinforcements of norms that keep us safe from Covid and constant reminders of the distinct times that we live in now.
