About the Book
Reflections on the Pandemic: COVID and Social Crises in the Year Everything Changed is a collection of essays, poems, and artwork that captures the raw energy and emotion of 2020 from the perspective of the Rutgers University community. The project will feature work from a diverse group of Rutgers scholars, students, staff, and alumni. Reflecting on 2020 from a number of perspectives - mortality, justice, freedom, equality, democracy, family, health, love, hate, economics, history, medicine, science, social justice, the environment, art, food, sanity - the book features contributions by Evie Shockley, Joyce Carol Oates, Naomi Jackson, Ulla Berg, Grace Lynne Haynes, Jordan Casteel, and President Jonathan Holloway, among others. This book, through its rich and imaginative storytelling at the intersection of scholarly expertise and personal narrative brings readers into the hearts and minds of not just the Rutgers community, but the world.
Table of Contents:
- Preface by Teresa Politano
- 1. Reflections in a COVID Photograph, by Jonathan Holloway
- 2. pantoum: 2020, by Evie Shockley
- 3. Mercy (As If), by Mark Doty
- 4. Writing My Last Book, by Rigoberto GonzÁlez
- 5. Taking the Court, by Steve Pikiell
- 6. The New Normal, by Revathi Machan
- 7. Emerging Not Stronger or Weaker but Different, by Stephanie Bonne
- 8. Looking for a Better End Game, Mary E. O’Dowd
- 9. Pandemic Dispatches (East Africa–North America), by Angelique Haugerud
- 10. War of the World: How Humans Became a Destructive Force of Nature, Paul G. Falkowski
- 11. Jared (2020), by Jordan Casteel
- 12. Reflections on Being Human in the Twenty-First Century, by Yalidy Matos
- 13. Risking Delight in the Middle of a Pandemic, by Yehoshua November
- 14. Days of 2020: Fear without Knowledge, by Mark Doty
- 15. A Litany for Survival, by Naomi Jackson
- 16. Sojourner Truth, Founding Mother, by Grace Lynne Haynes
- 17. A Letter to Juneteenth on the Embodied History of Life in 2020, by Gregory Pardlo
- 18. We Cannot Escape History, by Louis P. Masur
- 19. Paying Attention, by James Goodman
- 20. A Reckoning with Names: Signs, Symbols, and the Meanings of History, by David Greenberg
- 21. The COVID States Project: Empowering a National Response, by Katherine Ognyanova
- 22. I’ve Missed You (2021), by Didier William
- 23. Burning Bologna, 2021, by Susan L. Miller
- 24. Pandemic Theology: “Bliss and Grief,” by Susan L. Miller
- 25. Kid’s Cloth Face Mask from Cat & JackTM, by Belinda McKeon
- 26. Call the Midwife, by Leah Falk
- 27. Slap Roti and the Story of New York City, by Marc Aronson
- 28. From The Journal of a Therapy Cat, by Joyce Carol Oates
- 29. Black and Gray, by Teresa Politano
- 30. Playing with Anxiety, by Christian Lighty
- 31. Virtual Class #219, March 2021, 2:50 p.m.–4:10 p.m. by Mackenzie Kean
- 32. It’s Harder for Extroverts, by Kelly-Jane Cotter
- 33. The Old Has Passed Away, Behold, the New Has Come (2 Corinthians 5:17), by Stephen Masaryk
- 34. Rutgers spit test, by Nick Romanenko
- 35. Connectivity, Connection, and Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic, by Vikki Katz and Amy Jordan
- 36. The Faculty Parent: Juggling Parenting, Teaching, Research, and Writing in Uncertain Times, by Patricia Akhimie
- 37. Resiliency, Resourcefulness, Responsibility, and Reinvention, by David Dreyfus
- 38. COVID-19 and Spaces of Confinement, by Ulla Berg
- 39. STOP! (2021), by Stephanie Boyer
- 40. The Climate Crisis and the University, by Robert E. Kopp
- 41. 2020: A New Jersey Economy Reinvented, by James W. Hughes
- 42. Work in the Pandemic and Beyond, by Adrienne E. Eaton
- 43. The Tolling Bell, by Katherine C. Epstein
- 44. Stagecoach Mary, by Kimberly Camp
- 45. On Racism in Museums, by Kimberly Camp
- 46. STYLE Bird, by Grace Lynne Haynes
- 47. Meet Me at the Theatre at the End of the World: Thirteen Illuminations and an After-Glow, by Caridad Svich
- 48. What Kind of Pain, by Leslieann Hobayan
- 49. Be Still, by Leslieann Hobayan
- 50. Sorrow, by David Orr
- 51. The Only Replacement, by Ben Purkert
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Contributors
- Notes
- Index
About the Author :
TERESA POLITANO is an award-winning writer, editor, and educator. In 2022, she won the International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Personal Essays / Memoir. She is the author of Celebrity Chefs of New Jersey (Rutgers University Press, 2010). She teaches at Rutgers University and is part of the university’s Academic Initiatives team.
Review :
“The accounts within this volume tell the story of the COVID-19 pandemic and its complex intersection with every facet of our lives. Our shared trauma, loss, resilience, and hope are reflected in its pages. I thank the Rutgers community for these important reflections and for all they did to propel us through those difficult days.” - Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey "In Reflections on the Pandemic: Covid and Social Crises in the Year Everything Changed, stories of personal experience and scholarly expertise shine light on the intricacies of the pandemic years...[it] covers a range of topics that were relevant to the pandemic, including science, health, racial injustice, environmental issues, politics, relationships, mortality and more." (New Jersey Monthly)
