Category Archives: Colleges and Universities

The Pandemic Archive

The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanities, Arts and Public Health Practice Initiative (HAPPY) is building a multidisciplinary archive of the human experiences that comprise public health and community wellness in this moment in history.

They invite people to contribute to a publicly accessible archive documenting the experiences of living during the covid-19 pandemic, which can include: piece of writing, a scan or photo of a piece of artwork, a video, a list of the books you’re reading, the music you’re listening to, the places you’re finding hope, or just a list of the contents of your thoughts, days, time.

  • What do you want future generations to know about this time?
  • Where are you finding joy? Comfort? Hope
  • How are arts and music helping you get through your days?
  • What experiences are you having that you want to share with others?
  • How is your life changing during the pandemic?
  • What are you reading, listening to or watching?
  • What images describe your day dealing with covid-19?
  • How do you want the world to change as a result of this pandemic?
  • What are your hopes for the future?

Send us your answers, thoughts or stories, along with files and links to your artwork (poetry, drawings, paintings, video, photographs, plays, etc…) using the submission form.

We will develop a public website documenting your written responses and any links you provide to your artwork. We will also archive your submissions at the Yale Library for future generations to have a window into this moment. Please join us in preserving the human experiences of this time, for ourselves in the present and for those in the future.

Portraits of an Epicenter: NYC in Lockdown

This book contains written reflections and photography by LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) students who documented their experiences during New York City’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020.  Eight students in the Gardiner-Shenker Student Scholars Program had begun the semester with plans to engage with the Wagner and LaGuardia Archives to focus on 1980s New York but had to improvise quickly and ended up setting their sights very much on the current moment. While they used traditional practices of archive development and curating to create their new project, they went beyond collecting physical artifacts and ephemera to include the vulnerable, emotional aspects of their unique experiences as well. The moving portrayal helped the creators to process the present and serves as a valuable document of an unprecedented period that will be archived at the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives and available for researchers and future students.

Food and Covid-19 NYC

This curated collection of materials, photos, personal narratives, menus, media articles and more, began in the spring of 2020 as a NYU food studies graduate seminar class project, and evolved into a space capturing the food experiences of New Yorkers as they navigated the traumas of the COVID-19 pandemic through the end of 2020. Following the ebbs and flows of the pandemic’s intensity, the site captures the landscape of food during this period both topically (food insecurity, restaurants, shopping, and at home) and chronologically. The project also provides links to other collections and related articles.

Theatre 2020 Collection

The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin has created the Theatre 2020 Collection to document the impact of the Coronavirus crisis on the professional theatre community. The collection is seeking digital files from theatre professionals that could help future scholars and students understand this moment and how the theatre community responded. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your career? Your organization or theatre company? How have your plans changed?

They will be collecting stories and files throughout the duration of the pandemic. Simply register as an individual or an organization, and they will send you a link to a Box.com folder with instructions on how to upload content. You can choose to submit whatever files you are comfortable sharing that help document your experience or the experience of your organization. The Ransom Center will review submissions to ensure they align with the scope of this collecting initiative, and the files will be preserved and made accessible for research at the Center.

Bioethical Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Digital Collection

This collection consists of the work of Georgetown University faculty on bioethical issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes articles (written for both the general public and the scholarly community) and recordings of lectures and webinars that have been presented in the wake of the pandemic. A number of Georgetown University affiliated institutions are represented in the collection, including the Kennedy Institute of Ethics; the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics; Global Engagement; the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs; and the Catholic Health Association. Works produced by Georgetown scholars that have been published by external organizations are also included in the collection.

Immigrants in COVID America

Immigrants in COVID America, a project from the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center, documents the first six-month period of the pandemic in the U.S. – beginning with the January 30, 2020 World Health Organization declaration that the coronavirus outbreak was an international emergency – and focuses on four issues that have particularly affected immigrants, refugees, and asylees during the pandemic: immigration policy, health, labor & the economy, and anti-Asian xenophobia.

The project highlights fact-based research and reporting from reputable national media sources and think tanks supplemented by ethnic and local media. It also includes perspectives from experts, scholars, and political commentators and provide a summary analysis of emerging trends and issues. A variety of methods are used to identify sources, including Google news alerts and immigration-related newsletters and digests, such as Migratory Notes and ImmigrationProfBlog. Diverse perspectives and opinions – political and otherwise – are included whenever possible, especially when they highlight the trajectory behind certain policies and the experiences of immigrants and refugees themselves.

It also includes Stories from the Pandemic, a collaboration with the Sahan Journal (a nonprofit digital newsroom dedicated to providing authentic news reporting for and about immigrants and refugees in Minnesota) to create digital stories documenting the experiences of immigrants and refugees during the pandemic.

COVID-19 MKE

COVID-19 MKE: A Milwaukee Coronavirus Digital Archive aims to document how the Milwaukee area experienced the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It was built by students in Prof. Christopher D. Cantwell’s “Local History Research Methods” class and is hosted by the Golda Meir Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. All of the material on the site has beencontributed by members of the greater Milwaukee community.

Any image, story, video, recording, or email that captures something about this moment is an appropriate contribution. Potential submissions include: 

  • Photographs of signs on businesses or homes
  • Stories of personal isolation or community engagement
  • Notifications from employers, organizations, or community officials
  • Instances of social distancing; or moments of connection while in isolation
  • Images of empty streets or buildings
  • Recordings of silence in places once vibrant
  • Documentation of the peculiar sights, sounds, and events of a community on quarantine
  • Meditations on health, wellbeing, and ability amidst sickness
  • Reflection on what the crisis has revealed to you about either yourself or your community

One of the unique features of this moment is how it is unfolding for many of us in isolation. This is why we specifically flagged “emails” as an item we are interested in collecting. Documenting why and how an organization chose to close, stay open, or accommodate this current moment will be of interest to future historians.  

Illinois College: Archive Your Story

The Khalaf Al Habtoor Archives at Illinois College invites community members to “Archive your Story.” Anyone with a connection to the College can get involved by sharing journal entries, recordings, writings and other documents to be shared with the historians of tomorrow. The Archives will also undertake an oral history project which will allow contributors to record their stories. Community stories will be shared immediately through social media and the College website, which can be later archived.

Suggested ways to contribute to the project include:

  • Compiling journal entries about day-to-day experiences. Whether you are a nurse treating sick patients, a grocery store employee, restaurant owner, student, parent — the list goes on — we hope to hear from you. A wide range of experiences will help us create rich resources that illustrate the widespread effect of the pandemic on campus life. 
  • Write an essay or other response about your experience. This can take whatever creative form you choose. 
  • Take pictures to document your experience. Document your home workspace, take a picture of something that has changed in your life or how you are staying connected or helping others. 
  • Speak up for the heroes you see. Share stories about others who have helped you or are making a difference in the community. Send a quick email or Facebook message to the College letting us know the stories in the IC community that interest you.
  • Contact us to share your ideas. This project is a collaborative effort. If you have story ideas or want to contribute something unique, please contact us. 

Anyone interested in learning more can email archiveyourstory@ic.edu. 

Theatre 2020 Collection

An initiative of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the Theatre 2020 Collection is seeking digital files from theatre professionals that could help future scholars and students understand this moment and how the theatre community responded. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your career? Your organization or theatre company? How have your plans changed?

The project will be collecting stories and files throughout the duration of the pandemic. Contributors should simply register as an individual or an organization, and they will send a link to a Box.com folder with instructions on how to upload content. Contributors can choose to submit whatever files they are comfortable sharing that help document their experience or the experience of their organization. The Ransom Center will review submissions to ensure they align with the scope of this collecting initiative, and the files will be preserved and made accessible for research at the Center.

Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive collects and preserves experiences and responses from individuals and religious communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was started by John G. Turner (Department of Religious Studies) and Lincoln Mullen (Department of History and Art History) at George Mason University and is hosted by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History at New Media at George Mason University.

Pandemic Religion (on Twitter @pandemicrel) invites the public to share anything that bears witness to their personal experiences, or that documents the activities and responses of their religious community. They invite contributions from people of any religious tradition, community, or perspective in the form of  images, videos, audio files, texts, and more. Everything from sermons to screen shots. It is difficult to know what present and future scholars will find most valuable. If you have any questions about what is desirable or permissible to share, please contact  pandemicreligion@gmail.com.