In case our pandemic reality wasn't dystopian enough:
Look, no one said "remote learning" couldn't take place from beyond the grave.
I found out about this from Slate, who reached out to college and reported:
In a statement from Concordia, the university confirmed that François-Marc Gagnon, a longtime lecturer in the Department of Art History and prominent scholar with a large body of written work, created the lectures as part of Concordia's online course catalog, eConcordia. In other words, Gagnon's lectures are from a pre-COVID-19 era and were intended for a dedicated online class, not the in-person-designed courses that have moved online as a result of the pandemic. Technically, Marco Deyasi is now listed as the instructor of record, along with two teaching assistants who also interact with students and grade their work. Gagnon's lectures continue on as a "teaching tool," according to the Concordia spokesperson.
[…]
This case may be particularly egregious, but it intersects with larger questions about copyright and control over faculty members' online course materials and the various ways faculty labor within higher education is degraded and devalued.
Writer Tamara Kneese uses this bleakly cyberpunkian teaching moment to talk about larger issues facing remote learning, academic intellectual property rights, and the general economics of higher education. And those things are much more horrifying than a zombie teacher on video.
How a Dead Professor Is Teaching a University Art History Class [Tamara Kneese / Slate]
Image: Public Domain via Pexels and Public Domain Photos (altered)
