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 Clare Cinelli
Snore Doumbia
Clare Cinelli was born in Elk Grove, IL and has since lived in Roselle, IL. After entering Lake Park High School, she began to work for Oberweis Dairy ice-cream shop and also in a nursing home. Later that year, she transitioned to working for Levis as a retail employee until 2017.
Between 2016 and 2017 Cinelli volunteered for the Special Olympics program and in 2017 she began to work for Anthopologie as a retail employee, continuing there for another 2 years. In 2019 she received a promotion from Anthopologie that made her into a 19-year-old manager.
When Cinelli was hired at Anthropologie she also began attending Columbia College as an advertising major and she started selling handmade jewelry at the Columbia Shop. After spending two years pursuing her advertising degree, Cinelli changed her major to Design, a passion she has had all through high school. More specifically, she is pursing a degree in graphic design which she plans to obtain in 2021.
Cinelli was forced to stay away from campus due to the global spread of the virus COVID-19. During this time Cinelli was also put on furlough with Anthopologie and had to seek unemployment. Despite the challenges Clare was able to successfully complete the 2020 school year with her grades unaffected.
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Interview with Elaine Greiner
Koda Calma
Elaine Greiner (she/they) was born in Des Moines, Iowa. She grew up an only child of divorced parents living in the city of Des Moines. Throughout their high school career, Greiner was a proud member of the Sharks, the school’s synchronized swimming team. In the spring of 2017, Greiner graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School. Follow graduation, Greiner continued their studies in Illinois by enrolling in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s fashion program and at the end of her sophomore year, Greiner transferred to the fashion program at Columbia College Chicago. In the spring semester of 2020, she secured a summer internship with Cynthia Rowley in New York City and lived and worked in Chicago during the spring semester. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Greiner was urged by her family to return home. After seeing her roommate return home to Taiwan amidst the outbreak, Greiner drove back to Iowa. She continued with her studies at Columbia and hopes to graduate in 2021.
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Interview with Jayce Lewis
Ryan Pollack
Jayce Lewis was born in Everett, Washington. Lewis lived in Washington until third grade when their family moved to San Antonio, Texas. Lewis attended high school at North East School of the Arts (NESA) in San Antonio from 2013 to 2017 where they concentrated in Musical Theater. While in San Antonio, Lewis worked at the Rickshaw Café. In 2017, Lewis moved to New York City to attend New York University to study acting and volunteered at New York University as house manager of the theater. Lewis moved from New York City to Chicago in 2018 Lewis moved to Chicago to study Musical Theater at Columbia College Chicago. Lewis found it difficult to transfer to Columbia at first because a majority of their credits were not accepted, and it was tough to make friends their age. Lewis has worked on a number of musical theater productions at Columbia iand is currently part of Columbia College Chicago’s Trans Student Union. Lewis has noted that they enjoy baking bread, painting, and learning French. As of May 2020, Lewis is working toward a bachelor’s degree in Musical Theater at Columbia College Chicago.
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Interview with Jay'La Sims
Clare Cinelli
Jay’La Sims was born in Henderson, Texas and was raised in Dallas, Texas, where she now resides since the pandemic. After graduating high school at Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts, Jay’La is now studying comedy writing and performance at Columbia College Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and is a member of the Improv Club, expecting to graduate in 2023 with a Bachelors in Arts. She currently lives with her mom and sister and is continuing her studies from home through virtual learning. Jay’La has performed at Comedy Cabaret at Columbia College Chicago. She is using her time at home to further develop her writing and performing skills along with her classmates.
Jay’La moved out of Columbia College Chicago’s dorms quickly after learning about the campus closures due to Covid-19 and is now sharing a room with her sister once again. Jay’La’s mom works as a nurse in two different nursing home facilities. Jay’La is hopeful to return back to campus and city life in Chicago in the fall. After the pandemic is over she is excited to be with friends and return to a more independent lifestyle.