During the spring 2020 transition to remote learning necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Oral History: the Art of the Interview classes were forced to abandon the planned interview projects During the three week interruption before classes resumed online, Associate Professor Erin McCarthy and Archives staff created Capturing Quarantine, a digital oral history project designed to document the student experience during the global pandemic.
The collection documents a frequently overlooked voice, that of the undergraduate student, and will be a valuable source for future study by those interested in learning about daily life during the pandemic from the student perspective.
Students interviewed each other, created biographical and interview abstract statements, and authored reflection pieces on the experience of the abrupt mid-semester switch and overall thoughts about the process and the pandemic.
This project resumed during the Fall 2020 semester, with additional interviews collected, as the college offered both remote and hybrid courses. As with the spring 2020 interviews, these fall interviews continue to capture the undergraduate student voice narrating their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other oral history projects conducted by Dr. McCarthy's students in support of archival holdings:
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Interview with Elliot Dynes
Ben Tufts
Elliott Dynes (he/him) was born in 2001, in Irvine California, where he was raised. At the recommendation of a friend, he attended the Orange County School for the Arts, where he discovered his love of film. While in high school Dynes spent a lot of time making YouTube videos with his friends and playing lacrosse. He applied to many schools, but ultimately decided on Columbia College Chicago and moved halfway across the country for a total change of pace. While there, Dynes quickly made many friends, and was therefore reluctant to return to Irvine amidst the pandemic. He also spent his time prior to COVID on sets and on freelance film editing jobs for clients. Dynes spent the Fall 2020 semester on campus in Chicago. He intends to graduate in 2023 with a degree in film and directing.
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Interview with Kelso Antoine
Bridget Ekis
Alessia Antoine (she/her) was born and raised in Miami, Florida. Antoine was born in 2000 and during her early childhood shared a home with her extended family. Antoine attended high school at Dr. Michael Krop Senior High. During her high school year Antoine worked babysitting jobs and participated in robotics club. In 2018 Antoine moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College Chicago to study filmmaking. Antoine was excited to move and to attend the collection due to the diversity of the student population. As the coronavirus pandemic worsened in March 2020, Antoine was forced to evacuate her dorm and move back to Miami to finish the spring semester. Online learning affected Antoine’s motivation in her schoolwork and being back in Miami made it challenging to participate in school. In the fall of 2020, Antoine returned to Chicago and moved into her first apartment off-campus in the South Loop.
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Interview with Magdalena Naruszewicz
Nurrah Muhammad
Magdalena Naruszewicz (she/her) was born in Chicago, Illinois. Naruszewicz grew up dancing and has held onto the practice ever since she started as a child. In 2014, the same year she started attending Taft High School, her father was diagnosed with cancer. Two years later, in 2016, he passed away. In 2018, Naruszewicz graduated from Taft High School and started at Columbia College Chicago that Fall as a Dance major. In 2019, she experienced a traumatic back injury. In the Spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, she continued to live at home with her mother and siblings as she transitioned to remote learning. Naruszewicz continues to pursue a BFA in Dance at Columbia College Chicago and plans to graduate in 2022.
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Interview with Nathan Gagnon
Christopher Donahue
Nathan Gagnon (he/him) was born in Berkeley, California in 2002 and was raised by his French-Canadian immigrant parents in Albany, California. He has always been creative: he was an aspiring animator from a young age, making videos with LEGO in his free time. In middle school he started learning piano, and he now plays guitar and sings as well. In 2019 he played his first open mic at The Octopus, a local music venue which has since closed permanently. In the spring of 2020, he had a socially distanced graduation from Albany High School after many months of remote learning. In the fall of 2020, he started his first semester at Columbia College Chicago in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, pursuing a major in Traditional Animation with a focus in Stop Motion. He continues his studies from his current residence on campus in Chicago, Illinois, and plans on graduating in 2024.