Month: April 2020

Hello world! Over the past few weeks we (Sam and Elias) have been working together on collecting items to contribute to the local Carleton COVID-19 archive. As a small group, we have been able to work closely on developing our ideas about what kinds of themes we’re interested in, what kinds of items represent those themes, and how we want to approach the process of selection, collection, and preservation. We decided early on that we are both very interested in documenting the ways in which community institutions (e.g. libraries, small businesses, and schools, but also families, friend groups, clubs, etc.) are making efforts to continue serving the public, fostering community, and/or stay in business under current (evolving) circumstances. The economic impact of this pandemic is yet to be fully evident, but it is certain to be a point of emphasis in the histories that are written of our present moment. It is important, then, to preserve the digital and analog communications (newsletters, social media updates, etc.), public signage, and personal experiences that highlight and represent the changing face of our local landscapes, both literal and metaphorical. These images, documents, and voices not only shed light on the many implications of current economic conditions but also illuminate the ways in which institutions are continuing to foster community even during times of grave uncertainty regarding both the health of the public and the health of our local institutions themselves.

Be it a “store closed” sign or a newsletter outlining a grocer’s delivery schedule, the sources that we have preserved in the archive up to this point appear as if authored by the institution. While we know that there were people behind these publications, there is minimal indication of internal decision-making and strategizing in these outward-facing publications even if they do convey emotion, anxiety, and a personal touch. We find it very important to preserve these outwardly-facing sources and will continue to do so. Representing how institutions present themselves to the public is certainly a marker of their shifting (or static) public role. Yet going forward, we are also interested in capturing the behind-the-scenes production of these external communiqués. This could be in the form of guided oral histories, written responses, short interviews, among other things. We would like to trace the difference between, internally, how meaning is contested, priorities are debated, and community is conceived and how these messages are conveyed to the public. This endeavor will hopefully answer and preserve questions about the social and emotional forces that alter the leap from personal conceptions of crisis and community to public, institutional sharings thereof.

This term, our group is focused on ensuring that we preserve voices from people across generational lines to get a fuller picture of how this pandemic is affecting families, communities, and individuals across the country. While recent news stories have often highlighted tropes of endangered and isolated seniors and community elders, while often pointing to children or young adults as unwarry, or even dismissive Coronavirus spreaders, this disease is affecting people of all ages and we want to preserve this full range of impacts in the archive. We are looking to utilize several avenues for this collection. Rebecca has begun to explore the impacts on seniors in rural West Virginia, asking them to record some of their experiences to include their voices and experiences of this year. Jacob and McLain are increasingly focused on the impacts of Covid-19 shutdowns on children and young people, with a particular focus on how education is adapting and how this affects students and families across the country. We have begun to gather sources from State departments of education, school districts, and teachers, and we hope to outreach and begin to gather experiences from students themselves in different areas. This might take the shape of written journals, photographs, recorded zoom calls, or even oral histories performed by students on their classmates that will document the experiences of a group underrepresented in news reports and fundamental to our understanding of how families and communities are responding to and enduring this pandemic.

We are focusing on the perspectives from a variety of social groups and how they have been impacted by COVID-19. Our goal is to collect the stories and experiences of marginalized groups, but we realize that there are some barriers to that for some members of our group. All three of our group members have slightly different goals for this project, but ultimately they all examine the social consequences of this virus. We also see the value in documenting not only negative consequences of this pandemic but also ways in which people are coming together and supporting each other. But, we also want to capture the positive aspects of this time more broadly and explore the room for individual growth that people see in this experience.

Natalie is focusing on how different families have been affected by COVID-19, reaching out to a diverse group of individuals, geographically, structurally, economically, etc, and interviewing them to document how their family dynamics have been altered by this virus. In addition, I am capturing how families are staying positive during this time. Through images of chalk art, encouraging words on signs in their yard, social media posts, and other examples, I would like to highlight how families and organizations are supporting their community and first responders. As of now, I have been reaching out to members of my community to start getting responses and eventually have the goal of including more marginalized groups in my documentation. 

Anne is focusing on the impact that Covid-19 has on international students around the world. Many people do not see international students as marginalized, and this generalized assumption might be true in normal times. However, I see how pandemic can shift the social dynamic and position of people, disadvantaging certain groups of students who we simply believe them to be privileged and do not take into consideration. I do not like to ignore the voices of people by dwelling on the normative idea of marginalization. In this vein, I would like to highlight the experiences of international students by documenting interviews and collecting news articles and comments. 

Michael is interested in preserving the memory of marginalized groups by archiving different types of media to capture how the coronavirus has politically and socially impacted these groups. These groups’ identities are threatened by the current political dialogue and by barriers placed on them by society which makes it more difficult for them to share their stories. I believe it is necessary to preserve the memory of these groups to prevent their experiences from being ignored or falling through the cracks of time. However, I want to recognize everyone’s experiences are important to document at this time and I am open to sharing anyone’s stories. I will be using a variety of media to capture the experiences of different people. 

This past week I have spent my time trying to find new avenues for connecting with the elderly. Initially, I reached out to several elderly people on my Facebook community and while some gave short replies, the others indicated that typing so much would be a struggle for them.

I have tried calling as well and found that more successful. It’s been hard to listen to people recounting stories of isolation and loneliness during this time. I’m open to suggestions for broadening my outreach.

The goal of our collection is to verbally and visually represent the theme of displacement during COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on how physical and/or emotional separation has affected many Carleton Students. Displacement during this crisis can take various forms, ranging from physical separation from family to the feeling of isolation while living at home. Journal of the Plague Year: An Archive of COVID-19 is trying to understand this historical moment through a variety of perspectives, and we believe displacement during this pandemic is a common theme for college students, which has the potential to result in a valuable collection of rich personal stories.      

Our Method:

Since the project goal is to collect detailed stories from numerous students, we have divided the interview process into two sections. The first section is asynchronous, in which interviewees will be sent a short set of introductory questions (name, major, etc.) and then will be asked to complete a brief prompt. This prompt will ask students either to write a short story or share a couple of photos (with explanations) that serve as an embodiment of their experiences during this pandemic. This section will provide a consistent either written or visual component to all of our interviews that can stand alone if need be. Participants will be asked to complete this section before continuing with the rest of the interview. The second section will be synchronous, in which we will conduct and record an interview over video chat. We have created a set of questions that we’ll be asking in order to document the unique experience of our interviewee and discover the ways in which they feel and are affected by displacement. 

Examples of our core questions:

• How has your removal from a normal Carleton life impacted your educational experience and ability to do coursework?
• What new habits or practices have you developed to help make this transition more familiar and comfortable?
• What is something you think should be preserved in public memory about this time?

This is only a taste of the questions 😉 Please come back for the full interviews once the collection is completed!