Scouting the Territory (Research Blog 2)

Upon further research, I plan to focus on trauma amid college students as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. There are many dimensions to the trauma that college students have endured - being forced to leave campus immediately in the Spring of 2020, and being faced with a nationwide lockdown and global instability. Some students lost their primary source of housing, food, and safety. Not every student has a home to go to and this is a big stressor some students faced in March 2020 when universities around the globe transitioned to remote learning as a result of the pandemic. In addition to this, students are grieving the loss of their college experience and opportunities that have been effected by the state of the world. They are adapting to an entirely new form of learning, potentially struggling with access to the internet or technology. The distance learning / remote learning model adapted by schools assumes that every student has access to a personal computer and reliable internet access. In a country as diverse as America, this one-size-fits-all approach to learning amid the pandemic is unacceptable. Despite this, operating remotely is the only way that educators could ensure the safety of staff and students. 

Some important terms / information I found in my research...

collective trauma: the psychological upheaval that is shared by a group of people who all experience an event

can also be referred to as a mass trauma

the main difference between covid-19 and other mass traumas is loneliness and isolation ; humans are a social species, they need socialization to survive ; in other mass traumas, society has come together to support one another, this is not possible with a pandemic

isolation: little to no contact between an individual and society

**updated from original posting to reflect final research topic