Hello! My name is Natalie and I am a sophomore from Aurora, Illinois. I just declared American Studies, and so this project and the opportunity to explore the impact of this virus on our country is really exciting to me. I do not have any experience with public history, but that is why I chose to take this class. I think it is really important to push myself out of my comfort zone to both to grow academically and to engage with the world around us at this socially isolated time. Previously, I have been very focused on the historic aspects of American Studies, so this current project is something new for me! The most significant aspect of this project for me is being able to preserve history for future generations. It is incredible to think how our lifetime will be taught to future generations and that we are living through history everyday. It really puts my life into perspective, realizing that we are just part of a bigger picture that will later be studied.
I will be focusing on COVID-19 and social inequalities, examining how this pandemic is impacting family dynamics on both the level of immediate and extended families. I think it will be interesting to explore both the positive and negative consequences of the social isolation and stay at home orders. From my own personal experience, some families have been able to bond and spend quality time together. On the other hand, there are other strained or broken families that could be forced to live together for financial or convenience reasons. In these cases, the families can be worse off then they were before, possibly causing violence or emotional scars. Additionally, some extended family members are split apart from each other in order to keep everyone safe, possibly straining the elderly if they usually rely on their family on an everyday basis. Lastly, I would also like to include single parent families and document their challenges in addition to or in comparison to the struggles facing two parent families. Overall, I am ready to learn more about how this crisis is impacting various family situations and bring awareness to those struggling.
