Faculty member shares tips for ‘Staying Sane in Quarantine’

Thomas Kinsman, a lecturer of computer science, wants to reassure his students that they are not alone and they’re not the first ones to be sent home because of an epidemic.

Shortly after self-quarantine and Zoom meetings became the new normal during the COVID-19 crisis, Kinsman decided to write a paper to help his students maintain a sense of control and sanity. The article, titled Staying Sane in Quarantine, touches other quarantines from history, what we can learn from astronauts about isolation and tips for staying motivated at home.

“I wrote this for my students and others at RIT who may be wondering what they are up against, and how to manage through this pandemic,” said Kinsman. “This was a chance for me write about some things that I enjoy studying, including data science, social networks, student motivation and what keeps people going.”

In the paper, Kinsman notes how Isaac Newton was sent home from the University of Cambridge for two years because of the Great Plague epidemic.

“It was during this time that Newton discovered that gravity was a force that caused falling objects to accelerate,” wrote Kinsman. “During Newton’s quarantine, Newton went on to invent the field of Newtonian physics. What will you invent? What will you learn?”

Read Kinsman’s full Staying Sane in Quarantine paper on the RIT website.