Peking University, March 13, 2020: This spring, Assistant Professor Sebastian Sunday Grève has been teaching his class, Contemporary Analytical Philosophy, in a completely different way due to the novel coronavirus epidemic. Adapting to the these trying circumstances, he recorded lectures from his home and organized weekly online seminars. After students finish each lecture, they raise questions and discuss the subject matter covered by the lecture with each other on WeChat or Zoom.
Students had high praise for how Professor Sunday Grève brought this course online. As a detailed study of the analytic tradition, Contemporary Analytical Philosophy consists of readings and group discussions involving the teacher and his students.
To ensure that students are able to absorb the contents of his lectures, Professor Sunday Grève put a lot of effort into preparing PowerPoint presentations for every class. Students also felt comfortable discussing any questions with him, because Professor Sunday Grève patiently explained whatever troubled them, and was happy to offer recommendations for further reading. He likes to foster a relaxed, comfortable learning environment and insists that students call him Sebastian instead of "Professor Sunday Grève."
Professor Sunday Grève admitted that it took some time for him to get used to the online platforms, but once he became accustomed to them, everything started to run quite smoothly. After seeing the advantages of multimedia lectures first-hand, he argued that while online teaching may be the future of education, it is important to note that it can't take the place of face-to-face interaction, because only the latter is intrinsically bound with the human psyche. Because of this, Professor Sunday Grève cautions everyone to pay more attention to their mental health during this stressful time and hopes that his online course can help provide some level of much-needed interaction until everyone can reunite on campus with healthy bodies and minds.
Dr. Sebastian Sunday Grève was born in Germany, educated at Oxford and is living in Beijing where he works as an assistant professor at Peking University. His academic interests mainly focus on Metaphysics, Epistemology, Metaphilosophy, Value Theory and Aesthetics.
Written by: Wang Nini
Edited by: Amanda Hu, Trevor
Source: PKU Office of International Relations
