What Social Distancing Really Looks Like

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., July 27, 2020 — The pandemic swept across the country last March and changed the world. Most college students were on spring break and were shocked to learn they would not be returning to campus in the near future. Closed campuses, online learning and virtual commencements were just a few of the major changes that affected students.

Students in Advanced Computer Graphics class were given an assignment to illustrate the changes and the topic of social distancing as one of their assignments.

“This pandemic happened without notice, and faculty were suddenly notified to switch all classes to remote presentations in the middle of spring break. It was confusing but we tried our best. Our students were excellent and worked hard to keep up with the learning,” explained Professor Moonjung Kang, who instructs students in graphic arts, UX design and digital illustration.

Kang dubbed the pandemic-inspired project, "Mini Illustrations Show Social Distancing." A short video above displays the student work.

“It was depressing not to interact with each other physically in the classroom but this assignment turned out to be meaningful because all the works show the students’ own stories. I believe it also encourages viewers as it helps the students to work through our COVID-19 spring term,” Kang said. Originally from South Korean, Kang joined WLU in fall of 2009 and is a resident of Wheeling.

In all, 21 works were completed by the students for this design assignment. Most of the students were sophomores.

“This was not our typical project that follows the standard process of design, it is like a personal anecdote. But it turned out well.”

Students participating in the pandemic illustration assignment include:

Lauren Anderson, Emily Everson, Lexus Ficca, Jamie Fogle, Abbie Henry, Karleigh Kowcheck, Olivia Negley, Anthony Sciarrino, Samantha Shipley, Gaetan Sinisgalli, Tyler Smith and Nathaniel Wilhelm.

West Liberty University is West Virginia’s oldest public university and offers more than 70 undergraduate majors, plus a growing number of graduate programs, both online and on campus.

For more information, please call 1.866.937.8542 (WESTLIB), visit wlibertydev.wpenginepowered.com/ or follow WLU on social media.