Abstract:

In times of hardship, uncertainty and fear, community is more important than ever. It rings especially true for a community with firm background, such as the one that exists in the somewhat boutique Department of Japanese studies at Sofia University, which enrolls a little over thirty students a year. Being in the middle of a second semester taught online, we noticed a curious non-academic tool used by our fourth year students to stay connected - the online multiplayer game ‘Among Us’.

Unfortunately, it is generally believed that videogame players show behaviors normally associated with physical addiction. Therefore, parents and social scientists are certain that online games may cause social problems. However, in the context of the strong sense of academic family students have been growing up, we were thrilled to see that in times of lockdown they have found a team-preserving way to fight the peril of potential social distancing.

We carefully examined this parallel classroom universe and implemented parts of it into our everyday online teaching methods thus enriching the Japanese Studies department online academic life, trying to make it as meaningful and successful as it was before the pandemic struck.

Keywords:

Coronavirus, online education, Japanese language, university students, social distancing, online games.