Trinity’s departments of history, sociology and classics have cancelled in-person tutorials and seminars, despite an announcement from the College today that they were to continue until further notice.
Emails sent to students of history and sociology this afternoon said that arrangements will be put in place for tutorials and seminars to be delivered online.
Prof Micheál Ó Siochrú, the head of the Department of History, wrote that “tomorrow morning all on-site classes (lecturers, seminars, tutorials) at undergraduate and postgraduate levels are suspended until further notice”.
“Arrangements will be put in place for on-line delivery”, he said, adding that “each individual module co-ordinator will contact their students with further instructions by the end of the week”.
“The History Department would like to assure you that every effort to minimise disruption is being made.”
Sociology students received an email from head of department Prof Richard Layte, which said that “the Department of Sociology has also decided to cancel all Sociology tutorials in person for the remainder of the term”.
Layte wrote that the Department of Sociology will use Panopto – a video-hosting feature on Blackboard – “to develop online lectures which incorporate lecture slides so that you can continue to learn”.
“Details of the solution will be communicated to you when they are available and module lecturers will then email about the restarting of tutorials”, he said. “Thanks for your patience at this difficult time.”
Today, students and staff were told in an email signed by Provost Patrick Prendergast and Vice-Provost Jurgen Barkhoff that College lectures will be delivered online for the rest of the semester, but tutorials, seminars and labs will continue as normal.
Prendergast and Barkhoff wrote that Trinity is continuing to run the smaller teaching sessions – lectures, seminars and labs – while cancelling lectures in order to “maintain continuity of teaching and learning while minimizing the need to bring together students in large groups”.
The email advised students to consult their timetable, or school or course co-ordinator, if they’re unsure if a particular session constitutes a lecture or tutorial.
“Social distancing protocols” will be implemented in the teaching sessions that do go ahead, the email stated.
Prendergast and Barkhoff wrote that both measures “are being taken in the interests of your health and well-being and to decrease any potential impacts on the larger community”.
“Our goal is to decrease the number of instances that lead to students, staff, and visitors coming together in large groups in close proximity with each other”, they wrote, adding: “We recognize that teaching is one of Trinity’s great strengths and that the decision regarding academic activities will be inconvenient to many of you but we must recognise that COVID-19 presents a very serious threat to the health and well-being of all in the Trinity community.”
The email also stated that “further measures may be necessary and these arrangements will be kept under continuous review”.
