Life in the Time of Covid-19: Stories from the Misericordia University Community

This project is limited to members of the Misericordia University community, i.e., those who are affiliated with the University as a student, employee (faculty or staff member), Sister of Mercy, or an alumna/alumnus. Participation is strictly voluntary. Participants must be 18 years of age or older. 

Many people don’t think their stories are worth sharing, but history is made up of the stories of regular people. We have developed a series of prompts that may help get you thinking about your own experiences. You may also want to consider how the pandemic inevitably involves a multitude of social issues around race, class, and gender; health care; politics; and technology. 

Do not include personally identifiable information or personal health information about another person or persons, e.g., members of your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, etc. Personally identifiable information is sensitive information that would allow a third-party to be able to identify someone, such as a street address, telephone number, or social security number. Submissions containing personally identifiable information will not be included in this project. Do not include personal health information about yourself or others that you would not want made available to the public through the Archives.

Please refer to the Policies about privacy and anonymity below.

Yes! We want your honest contributions, and we understand the privacy concerns that you might have.  However, please do not share any personally identifiable information or personal health information, even in an anonymous contribution.  For more information on your options to restrict access to donations, see the Policies below or contact the University Archivist. 

You may encourage your students to participate, but this project is entirely voluntary. Requiring participation may alter a student’s submission, even unconsciously, so that the work may not be authentic to their lived experience. We want anyone participating to be comfortable doing so. That way, the historical record we are contributing to is as accurate as possible. Please encourage your students to participate, and check out what Dr. Jennifer Black’s Introduction to Public History students are doing at MU Local History Projects. 

These materials will eventually become publicly available through the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle University Archives and/or the Misericordia University Digital Commons. Participants agree to have their submissions added to the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle University Archives collections to be preserved for future generations of students, scholars, and researchers. 

You can submit a variety of formats, either print, digital, or a mix of both. Your submission may include photographs, letters, emails, journal entries, artwork, poetry, videos, and so on. We encourage you to be creative in how you document your experiences. We can accommodate a variety of file types (such as .doc /.docx, .mp4, .wav, .mp3, .pdf, etc.) and physical formats.  If you have questions about a specific file type, or if you have physical materials you would like to donate, please contact the University Archivist. Please do not drop materials off at the Library. 

As national and global circumstances are constantly evolving and the Misericordia community continues to be affected, the project is open-ended.  We are accepting submissions for the foreseeable future.

Yes! You will need to fill out the submission form and the Digital Donor Agreement (included in the form) for each submission. 

Many of these materials will eventually become publicly available through the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle University Archives and/or the Misericordia University Digital Commons.
As the central theme of this collecting project is a health crisis, it is entirely possible that your submission may contain personal health information. This information is legally protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Do not include personal health information about yourself that you would not want shared publicly. Do not include personally identifiable health information about others or information that could allow a third party to identify others, including members of your family, friends, roommates, classmates, neighbors, co-workers, etc. 

Do not include any private personal information in your submission, such as your street address, phone number, student or employee ID number, or other personally identifiable information about yourself or others.

If your submission does contain this type of information, you have several options: the third party MUST separately submit the Personal Health Information Agreement, or your submission must be fully anonymized for both the submitter and any third parties identifiable in the submission. Failure to comply with either of these options may result in your submission not being accepted into the Archives. Please contact the University Archivist if you have questions. 
 

We want you to be comfortable telling your honest story. You may wish to remain anonymous and/or restrict your submission from use for a certain period of time. Your name is encouraged, but not required. Material may be kept anonymous. If you would like your materials to remain anonymous, you may indicate that in your submission form. Your name is required in the form for administrative recordkeeping, but your name will never be released to researchers if you select anonymity.

You may choose to have material be available to researchers as soon as possible, or you may request your submission be restricted. Please contact the University Archivist if you would like to discuss restriction options. 

All participants must be 18 years or older. Minors under 18 years of age cannot legally agree to the Submission Agreement, the Personal Health Information Agreement, or the Digital Donor Agreement (parts of the Submission Form)

You must own copyright of the material you are submitting, or if your submission has co-creators, each co-creator must complete this form for the submission to be accepted into the Archives and this project. Co-creators include someone you interviewed, a co-writer, co-artist, or anyone who contributed intellectually or creatively to the materials. 
 

Once you have submitted this form, please email the Sister Mary Carmel McGarigle University Archives (archives@misericordia.edu) with either a link to download your materials or attach them to your email. If your submission is in physical form (such as a handwritten diary), please contact the University Archivist. Please do not drop off materials at the Library.