Also in this strange 2020 that has just ended I managed to teach a class titled “Self-publishing laboratory in multimedia systems” for the students of Communication Sciences and Communication Sciences and Techniques of the University of Insubria (Italy) and to participate as speaker at one of the conferences of the cycle “Scienza & Fantascienza” (Science & Science fiction) organised by the same university, only this time I did it at a distance, staying at home in front of my computer screen. It was a different way than usual of dealing with these two commitments, which had both its good and bad sides.
As for the
laboratory (from which my Italian book “Self-publishing lab. Il mestiere dell’autoeditore” is based), the fact that I didn’t have to go
to Varese allowed me to spread it in a longer time span. We had two
lessons a week between 12 and 23 October: two on Mondays and two on
Fridays. This also allowed the students to have more time to assimilate
the concepts and prepare the publication simulation project.
Another non
negligible advantage is the fact that having to participate from home has
made participation in itself easier. In my case it meant avoiding travelling
from Cagliari and the expenses related to my stay in Varese. In the case of
students, it allowed more of them to participate, since they too, in
their own small way, no longer going from home to university, from one site to
another and from one classroom to another, ended up with more time available.
And in fact this year I had 24 students who successfully completed the
laboratory.
On the
other hand, the disadvantage was the lack of live interaction, in
person. Throughout the lesson, they and I were both in front of a screen. I was
speaking and I could neither see nor hear them, except when they had a question
to ask me or I would ask them something. Silence is the worst thing, but
even looking at a screen with icons and names gives only the slightest idea of
having someone on the other side who sees and hears you.
I missed to
be able to see in their faces how they received what I was talking about
and to realise if it was necessary to repeat some concepts. I missed hearing
their exclamations, the real-time comments and also the laughs,
both during my lectures and the exposition of the other students’ projects; all
things that make lessons in person a stimulating and satisfying human
experience.
Furthermore,
while it is true that having to work from home is comfortable and has made me
save money and time, I missed spending a week in Varese, the city, the
friends I have made over the years (including a feline one), breathing the air
of the university environment, even the campus canteen and the restaurant where
you always ended up having dinner. These are all things that give me a great
sense of satisfaction, but also of professional fulfilment, and which
this year I had to do without.
Despite all
this, I am very satisfied with how the laboratory went. Also this year the
students showed participation and interest, as much I was able to appreciate that
from a distance. And they proposed publication projects among the most
varied. Once again spanning among many literary genres.
In the
second and third photos of this article you can see two of them, an essay and a
novel. These are screenshots (appropriately pixellated for privacy reasons) that
I saved live during the lesson.
In the
bottom right corner you can also see that I’m there, with my sci-fi
background!
And then
there was the conference, which was held in the afternoon of 14 October,
as part of the series of conferences “Scienza & Fantascienza 2020 - Non
solo virus. I nemici invisibili (Science & Science Fiction 2020 - Not
just viruses. The invisible enemies)” and titled “Portatori di morte... ma
anche no: i virus e la vita sulla Terra e oltre la Terra” (Bearers of death
... but also not: viruses and life on Earth and beyond the Earth”). The topic is
that of both negative and positive role of viruses in real science and science fiction.
The
speakers of the event, organised and moderated by Paolo Musso, were: Sebastiano
Fusco (science fiction critic), Antonio Serra (Sergio Bonelli
Editore, creator of “Nathan Never”), Silvia Corbetta (Sergio Bonelli
Editore, designer of “Nathan Never”), Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli
(biologist and science fiction writer), that is me, and Alberto Vianelli
(biologist, University of Insubria).
The
entire conference is available in the video below (the first photo of this article comes from
that video, where you can also admire, for the occasion, my Martian
background), which unfortunately is in Italian.
My speech
(starts at 1:19:33), in particular, deals with the role of a virus in
the plot of “Red Desert”. I can’t go into too much detail, as it contains
heavy spoilers about the series. I can only tell you that I emphasised how the
virus represents an element of conflict in the story. It does not generate a
pandemic, but it is both a means of a possible alien invasion (it’s an
alien virus) and an element that causes an evolution in infected people.
The typically negative role it usually plays in fiction is much less clear here
and is characterised by more positive shades.
I can’t say
more. You will have to read the books of the series and, in the future, as soon
as they are available in English, the remaining ones in the Aurora Saga.
The other
interventions were also very interesting, but my favourite was that of
Alberto Vianelli, who spoke about viruses from a scientific point of
view and, even if we had not agreed in advance, his speech connected
perfectly to mine.
But I want to say that, as far as this type of event is concerned, remote participation had some unexpected advantages. Even though we weren’t all sitting next to each other, I had the impression at times that we were really facing each other, perhaps around a table. I didn’t see the audience, except in the form of a list of hundreds of names, so it almost felt like we were having a long and interesting chat with friends, despite the distance between us.
In short,
all in all it was a good feeling and an undoubtedly positive experience.
But I hope
that in the future we can all go back to being in the same room again, to
collect in real time the reactions of the audience, the looks, the smiles, the
nodding heads and, let’s face it, even the applause.
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