Editorial introduction

摘要

At the time of writing, Melbourne, the city in which I work has been put in in a state of disaster" for the next six weeks. A nightly curfew has been imposed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., mask wearing has been made compulsory and permits are now required for daily travel. As the coronavirus disease (COVID) count of the newly infected and related deaths is daily creeping ever higher, the nightly news announces the unspeakable and requires of us to think the unthinkable.We are living in "interesting times" and the "interested research" in this special issue, to borrow a phrase from Stronach et al. (2004), situates analysis, reflections and interpretations of the institutional and biographical disruption generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Interpretation has the possibility of showing significance that is not immediately apparent. Interpretation often asks of the reader to see things in a particular way, or from a particular vantage point; to see connections or implications that they did not see before. In the first paper, Symth invites a consideration of the efficacy of taking a critical stance for reimagining academic institutions and academic labour as they are being transformed by the pandemic. Calling for the need of new perspective for rethinking an alternative modus operandi, he notes how "universities around the world are quite literally reeling in the face of the huge economic existential crisis wrought by the coronavirus" and asks what can we learn from this experience, and how can we extricate ourselves from the wreckage? Ling and Ling respond to this question in the second paper to further question the role of the university in a post COVID-19 imaginary. They note how "universities [are now] in a situation of having to rethink their mission, their priorities, their budgets and thus their future". Anticipating systemic change, they predict what has already begun to happen: "that many existing staff [are losing] their jobs as universities are forced to reshape themselves in the post-pandemic era" and invite consideration of the concept of wisdom in relation to transforming the work of university governance and research. Responsive research is the theme of the third, fourth and fifth papers in this issue that speak to Ling and Ling's call for "Researchers across all disciplines.. .to utilise every paradigm and research methodology at their disposal, and possibly some that do not currently exist, to address the massive social and scientific impacts of COVID-19". Reconsidering how COVID-19 has impacted on research collaboration the authors provide accounts of projects that by-pass data collection methods that require face-to-face human interactions. In the final two papers, Dewar and Steinberg offer personal reflection and insight of the effects and affects of the virus. Dewar echoes questions raised by Smyth and Ling and Ling of the role that universities have to play in responding to the challenges of COVID-19. He asks the question: "What is the purpose of a university in this day and age?" and summarises the importance of the universities being interconnected with the ecologies in which they are situated and the communities which they serve. Locating the human story at the centre of the work of universities is picked in the final paper by Steinberg who positions the act of research as a social practice with its own customs, conventions and significations. She provides a personal narrative that traverses the public and the pedagogical and draws together the three strands to ask the question: How can we maintain dialogue, connection and authentic encounter in a time of lockdown and social isolation?