Notes from a pandemic: the class of COVID oral history project at Southern Methodist University

Abstract

ABSTRACT Alongside many other changes, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 exacerbated preexisting disparities along racial and socioeconomic lines. National studies have clearly shown that the weight of the pandemic has been felt unevenly depending on one’s background and specific life conditions. Throughout this time, the Clements History Department at Southern Methodist University and SMU Libraries created an oral history archive entitled the Class of COVID to capture the voices of faculty, staff, and students at the university. These interviews reveal university trends echoing national findings of disparities in experiences via employment outcomes, health impacts, childcare, and discrimination. Through these findings, SMU and the Dallas-Fort Worth area can be viewed as a microcosm of the nation as a whole, exemplifying how these long-running disparities have only been strengthened by the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts.