Playing in the Face of Death: Pedagogical Play as Love and Lament in a Time of COVID

Abstract

Death always brings questions for the living. How do we teach and learn in a context of death and pandemic? This essay recounts and reflects on experiences of “playing in the face of death” in a graduate-level adult learning community at the onset of Covid-19 in New York City. Play became a healing and holy act of pedagogical love and lament in a time of crisis.