Making virtue of necessity. Experiences and lessons from Spain during Covid-19

ABSTRACT

The present paper intends to give an overview of how students and lecturers of the Faculty of Social Work at Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) experienced and faced the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout the paper, it will be explained what measures were taken, the effects that these measures had on the academic community, the challenges of becoming digital for most of the lecturers and students. The paper will conclude by reflecting on the new opportunities that the context paves the way for, and the insights gained, lessons learnt and ideas to put in action for the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Awareness
• digital
• challenge
• teaching
• opportunity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emilio José Gómez-Ciriano

Emilio José Gómez-Ciriano is Associate Professor at Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (Faculty of Social Work, Cuenca, Spain).  Holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology , a degree in Law and a bachelor in Social Work. He leads the reseach group Alter-Acción. He has coordinated the Shadow Reports to the Economic Social and Cultural Rights Committee of the United Nations on behalf of the Spanish Federation for the defence and promotion of Human Rights in the years  2005 and 2018. His main research interests are  Social Work with migrants and refugees, welfare policies and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Emilio José has been  a fellow researcher at the KU Leuven, Manchester Metropolitan University, UNED,  Pontifical University of Salamanca, University of Salford and College of Europe. He has led several EU funded projects and currently is the responsible for communication and external relations at ESWRA (European Social Work Research Association) . He is also member of the editorial board of some prestigious journals. He has authored more than 80 publications. Formerly he was Secretary General of Justice and Peace, a Human Rights association.