Zooming In: The Privilege of Performing Home

Abstract:How do our bodies transfer to the Zoom classroom? Does the body disappear? While appearance, language, and vocal qualities remain, the physical presence of bodies in space, in relation to one another, alters completely. At the end of March 2020, as New York City and much of the rest of the world went on lockdown, all classes at the City University of New York, where the author teaches, went online. As classrooms transferred to Zoom, our homes became the embodied presence of the virtual classroom. Home became the body. Given this teacher’s class and her students’ experiences on Zoom relative to their physical environments, it became clear to that ‘performing home’ during the pandemic was a privilege not afforded to everyone.