Archives & Special Collections
Hours, Policies and and Access
Mission Statement and Collection Policy
Donating to the Archives and Special Collections
Collections
History of UMass Dartmouth & the University Archives
Southeastern Massachusetts Historical Collection
Paul Rudolph & His Architecture
Archives of the Center for Jewish Culture
Franco-American Historical Collections
Congressman Barney Frank Archives Collection
Howard T. Glasser Archives of Folk Music and Letter Arts
Documenting Covid-19 at UMass Dartmouth
The purpose of this project is to document the lived experience of students, faculty and staff of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. This project will exist concurrent to the formal/official documentation that has been generated by UMass Dartmouth in regard to Covid-19. We are interested in documenting the transition from in-person to remote teaching and learning from the perspectives of both students and faculty; studying and working from home; working off-campus jobs; the experience of student residential life during the pandemic; how members of our community have connected with friends and family; and general ideas bout the impact of Covid-19 on student and faculty academic life.
This project is under the management of the Archives and Special Collections Department of the Claire T. Carney Library, with the assistance of the Office of Faculty Development and various faculty members and campus offices.
This project will proactively aim to be as diverse, equitable and inclusive as possible. Thus:
- The single unifying factor for participation will be an individual’s direct relationship to UMass Dartmouth. The project will not limit participation due to race, color, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, veteran status, education, marital status, language, age, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental or physical ability;
- The project will proactively seek the voices of those who have been historically under presented or are missing in the documented history of UMass Dartmouth. This includes, but is not limited to staff members; students, in particular those who identify as international, self-identify as students of color, those who study on a part-time basis; contingent faculty;
- Materials will be gathered in a variety of formats, through a variety of methods. We will work with all participants to ensure that there is a format and submission method that they feel comfortable with and acknowledge that personal experiences and memories will be expressed in whatever format/method the individual feels most comfortable and best-reflects their experience.
Participants could elect to provide self-created materials and/or participate in an oral history. Oral histories will be conducted by a representative of this project who has been trained on oral history best practices and is aware that this experience can be traumatic for both the narrator and the interviewer.
A key component of this gathering of personal experiences is the option for individuals to be anonymous participants: the project acknowledges that anonymity may be desired for a variety of reasons, and it will respect all requests for anonymity. In conjunction with anonymity, should an individual request that the materials (including any oral histories that are conducted) they donate to this project not be available for public consultation (known as restricted access) for a period of time, this request will also be respected. The length of time of the restriction will be discussed with individuals and will be decided on case-by-case.
The project will work with participants to ensure that no personal identifying health information is included in any of the submitted or gathered documentation.
If you would like to participate in this project, please contact Sonia Pacheco, Monika Schuler (mschuler @ umassd.edu) or complete the submission form.
Examples of contributions to this project include (but are not limited to):
- A reflective essay on your experience
- Curricular materials that you created for a class that you are now teaching online
- A photograph of your at-home workspace or your modified campus workspace
- An audio or video recording of an interview conducted with a family member
- An audio or video that documents your experience working/studying at home
- An original work of art (visual or aural)
- A poem or short story
- A link to a blog post or social media content that you created