Wine and Beer Appreciatio Course Adapts to COVID-19
Sunday, Nov 15, 2020 at 7:48 pm by
Nicole Aponte, SYRACUSE, NY –
“The more that we can prove we can do this, the better this semester and next one will be.”
The popular Wine and Beer Appreciation course offered here at Syracuse University has
changed what the new normal is during this COVID-19 semester. Syracuse University alumnus
and Professor of Food Science, Torrey Michael Grant, has put in extensive planning to make his
class run as smoothly as possible.
With the University’s strict precautions in order to keep everyone safe, it was difficult to
implement a classroom set-up in which masks could not be worn. Professor Grant’s classroom
has socially distanced seating with plexiglass windows that separate each student. Both the
Teaching Assistants and Professor Grant are not permitted to lower their masks while teaching.
Students are allowed to lower their masks when drinking the pre-set wine and beer offered, along
with eating pre-packaged food. In years past, students would come up to the front of the
classroom to receive their beverages, but this year, this is not possible anymore.
There are capacity limits to each classroom. Professor Grant has two groups per class in which
“Group A” attends a zoom lecture and “Group B” comes to Falk College to taste the different
wines and beers. Once the class reaches the halfway point, group A and B switch. Before this
switch is made, there is the proper disinfectant of the socially distanced classroom.
For most of the students taking the Wine and Beer Appreciation course, this is their only in-person class this semester. Professor Grant hopes that his classroom set-up can show other
courses here at Syracuse University that it is possible to get creative in thinking of ways to keep
everyone safe.
