And here's what we wound up doing! Notice how many of the class materials are hyperlinked in blue - this was the least text-focused course I've ever taught! (I'm happy to send the links; ask me if you're interested.)
The first half of the semester unfolded largely as planned, but much changed in the latter half. I'm not sure if you can get a sense of the flow from week to week, but it had an organic feel to it.
When lecturing in zoom the instructor can't see her students, as the screen is filled with slides. Feeling disconnected from students I decided to prerecord the lectures for weeks 4-12 so I could meet them in conversation during our our scheduled time; I called it "open office hours" and sent each student an invitation. Many (if not most) students availed themselves of this opportunity, and the conversations were sustaining for all involved, including me! Prerecording the lectures was alarmingly easy - I had to laugh at my own jokes - but these conversations kept me connected to the class as a whole.
The course runs again next spring but I'm not ready to assess the whole yet. Materials highlit in our final discussion ranged across the class, from Andrea Jain's critique of "neoliberal spirituality" in the 2nd week to Yuria Celidwen's invitation to indigenous contemplative practices in the 13th but we'll see what the course evaluations say!
