In his essay for H-Diplo’s teaching roundtable on teaching history amid COVID-19, Assistant Professor Wen-Qing Ngoei shares his experience of transitioning his “Big Questions: Happiness and Suffering” classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He explains his concerns with trying to replicate the in-person classroom experience electronically, his efforts to engage students in alternate ways, and his students' feedback. Importantly, his essay discusses how encouraging his students to ponder issues related to the pandemic enabled their deeper appreciation of topics in the "Happiness and Suffering" syllabus. “Indeed, Big Questions was conceived for such teachable moments,” shares Dr. Ngoei, “its interdisciplinary nature and critical reflexivity meant to encourage students to go beyond consuming and dissecting knowledge to integrating their classroom learning with their experience as individuals and members of a broader community.”
For the full essay, here’s the link to the full roundtable proceedings: H-Diplo Roundtable XXI-52.