Bessie and Glanting’s debut graphic memoir Going Remote: A Teacher’s Journey is the story of Bessie, a community college professor, and the impact of the pandemic and the suspension of in-person classes on teaching and on the lives of his students. In this thoughtful book–brought to life by Glanting’s stylishly surreal drawings–Bessie, who has been under treatment for years for a brain tumor, ruminates on the loss of community and the alienating transformation of the college after all classes go online, creating a barrier to students without computers, steady wi-fi, or quiet places to study–and forcing out the very students the community college system is designed to serve. In this 16-page excerpt, it’s March 2020 and Bessie watches as a vibrant and diverse college community shuts down, and many of his students drift away, separated from the institution by the pandemic and a technological and commercial pivot in how and to whom education is delivered. Going Remote: A Teacher’s Journey by Adam Bessie and Peter Glanting will be published by Seven Stories Press and The Censored Press in March.
Correction: Going Remote is being published by Seven Stories Press and the Censored Press, and the publication date indicated in an earlier version of this story has been changed.
