Archiving COVID-19
Documenting history in real-time
A novel course in 3 parts: Journals. First Days Project. Final Archives.
In Fall term 2020, Audrey Truschke responded to the pandemic by designing and teaching an innovative course where Rutgers-Newark graduate students and honors college undergraduate students documented the experience of living through the COVID-19 pandemic in real time. The course had 3 major components:
Regular journaling (read excerpts)
A First Days Project of oral histories of the initial days of pandemic life in March 2020
The creation of a final archive, on topics ranging from indigenous communities in New Mexico to European sports to pandemic sex (browse all archives; also see final exhibits)
The materials produced in the course are available on this website and will be stored, long term, in Rutgers Libraries Archives.
Archiving COVID-19 in the news
Professor Truschke spoke with MPR’s Angela Davis about the benefits of journaling during the pandemic, Jan, 22, 2021. here
Interview with Professor Truschke about journaling as a way to create valuable historical records of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dec 3, 2020. here
Discussion of Professor Truschke’s Archiving COVID-19 class in Vox article on journaling during the pandemic, November 9, 2020. here.
“Pedagogy and the Pandemic: Professor Audrey Truschke Meets the Moment,” October 26, 2020. here.
Discussant on COVIDCalls, “Teaching COVID-19,” September 4, 2020. video and audio only