Lee Skallerup Bessette keeps a personal journal but also writes op-eds and offers webinars on affective labor and what the work of faculty developers and instructional designers looks like. She talks about the unique stresses that faculty are facing, as well as language to describe what they are experiencing, and working towards sustained long-term conversations about affective labor moving forward.
While Bessette's blog space provides a personal outlet, she also published two op-eds on Educause as well as offered a webinar on the same topic. This is a part of a larger project that Bessette works on about affective labor and academic staff. He hopes that a book he edited on this topic will be coming out in 2021.
We can't "fix" what we can't identify. Affective labor is a very specific type of work and without the language to talk about it, we can't address it. The levels of affective labor we are experiencing is stressful, unsustainable, and can and will lead to burnout. It isn't just about managing our own stress and anxiety, but the stress and anxiety of the faculty we are working intimately with on helping them get ready for the fall, as well as helping them through the transition during the spring semester.
Explore the Humanities pathways that led to this project
Washington, D.C., USA