THE SEMESTER OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

A PANDEMIC DIARY PROJECT FOR HOUSEBOUND STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF OF SUNY ONEONTA

Psst! Hey, you! You there, looking at your phone and computer for continuous news updates. Aren’t you getting tired of reading how we are living through a major historical moment? Wouldn’t you like to make a little history? Of course, you would! Put that phone or computer down for a few minutes and let me tell you a little story. Then I will invite you to join the History Department to make history.   

We are going through a pretty uncertain time right now, but this is not the first-time folks have been afraid of the unknown. I’ll bet you could come up with a few times yourself, but I am thinking of the 1930s in particular. (You look smart – I am sure you are already thinking of some scary things like the Great Depression, Mussolini, the debuts of the Philly cheesesteak sandwich and the Twinkie, to name but a few.) In Great Britain, the decade of the 1930s was a turbulent one indeed, what with the abdication crisis, the Great Depression and the war clouds gathering over Europe so there was certainly much to write about. At the time, the British press used quite a lot of column inches to tell the British public how they (the public) felt about these and other various events. In 1936, a young anthropologist named Tom Harrisson was angered by this arrogance on the part of the papers. Working on the idea that the British press had really no idea what the average person believed, Harrisson decided to find out those beliefs for himself. He asked the people of Britain to keep diaries of what they were doing, the thoughts they had, and any reflections on any current situation, either local or international, and then send the diaries to him. Thus, was born an organization Harrisson called “Mass Observation.” Eventually, there were paid observers as well as volunteer observers, all of whom wrote their diaries and sent them to the Mass Observation headquarters in London.

By 1939, the organization was well enough established to get a personal view of the war, warts and all.  Topics like blackouts, army routines, death, job searches, wartime relationships, and the rationing system are just a few of the subjects to be found within its pages. It looks like exactly the sort of thing a smart-looking person like your good self would pick up and read. And an exciting read it is!  Who doesn’t like a good first-person account to read? But what is even more exciting than reading a diary is writing a diary!  This is where you come in, where you get invited to make history. 

Keep A Diary           

Keep a diary of your coronavirus time.  Diaries can be created and shared using various modalities: a physical, paper diary; entries on The Semester of Living Dangerously Pandemic Diaries website; or a digital document diary. In your day-to-day existence, what would you want future readers to know? What annoys you? Makes you happy? Frustrates you? Surprises you? Bores you? You can write about anything you like, about any subject you like, for as long as you like. This exercise is also a great stress buster.  Don’t carry your annoyances with you – let paper take the weight! One woman in MO wrote a lot about rationing, food in general, and trying to keep house. You can write as much or as little as you like. Even a sentence or two is better than no sentences at all. One gentleman wrote consistently about the barometric pressure and the weather – and that’s all. One eighteen-year-old girl wrote pages and pages about boys, dances, and future prospects, all while barely mentioning the war. Give yourself the gift of reflection – take whatever time you can when you can to write whatever you can. This is your exciting opportunity to become the first-person narrative we all enjoy reading! 

Whatever format you choose – we need entries so get writing. Put aside your work and daily angst for a few minutes and write for yourself.  Document this important time. You never know where a project like this might lead you! Get writing!   You could create a future building block of History or less grandiosely have a record to show others on how you survived this truly unusual time. 

The Details

You can write a physical paper diary or create an account on The Semester of Living Dangerously website for electronic entries. All diaries and accounts should include your name (or a pseudonym if you chose to remain anonymous), as well as your status (student, faculty, staff, administrator). Electronic accounts require an email. 

All physical diaries will become part of the College’s history and archived in the Milne Library Special Collections.  They will also be digitized and–along with the electronic diaries—made available on The Semester of Living Dangerously website. 

Get Started

1) Paper Diary – Create a paper diary in a notebook or journal and mail it to us upon completion. Indicate if you would like your original returned, and after the library has completed digitizing it a pick-up will be scheduled.  

Mail Diary to: 

Department of History
Bacon Hall, Room 61
SUNY Oneonta
Ravine Parkway
Oneonta, New York 13820

2) Electronic Diary – Share your thoughts and impressions online! Simply click the ‘Contribute’ button on The Semester of Living Dangerously site, and login with your SUNY Oneonta account.  

3)  Digital Document Diary – Feel free to write your diary on a Word document or using another word processor program.  Please email your entries to: Ann.Traitor@oneonta.edu or Deanna.Meadowcroft@oneonta.edu.

Stop checking the news every five minutes – that time is better spent!  Start writing! 

Meet The Team

The Semester of Living Dangerously is a collaboration between the SUNY Oneonta History Department, Milne Library, and the Teaching, Learning & Technology Center.

Ed Beck, Instructional Designer, Teaching, Learning & Technology Center. Ed designed the website and serves as its webmaster. His interests include teaching students about the open web and open source tools. SUNY Create is a project that invites students to build websites and establish a presence on the web.

Mary Lynn Bensen, Head of Milne Library Reference & Instruction, (PhD, Binghamton University, MALS, Rosary College ), Research  and professional interests include modern British literature, literary impressionism, information literacy, and assessment of library instruction.  Serves on Special Collections Team and is Library Liaison to the History Department.

Darren Chase, Milne Library Director and Interim Director of the Teaching, Learning & Technology Center.

Elizabeth Dunn, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts.

Matthew Hendley, Chair of History Department and Professor of History. (PhD, University of Toronto, Canada) Research specialization in Modern British History, British Popular Imperialism, 20^th century British political culture and gender and the history of Hong Kong. Teaches upper level courses in British History, Canadian History, British imperialism and Historiography. Has taught at SUNY Oneonta since 2001.

Sarah Rhodes, Milne Library Reference & Instruction Librarian and Special Collections Team Leader. Provides information literacy instruction primarily to the three Education departments. Is an alumna of SUNY Oneonta, having graduate in 2010 with a B.S. in Adolescent Education: English. 

Heather Stalter, Milne Library Reference and Special Collections Librarian.  (MLS, Syracuse University).  Research and professional interests include College history, collaboration with teaching faculty, archival backlogs, and supervising special collections internships in the Alden Room. 

Ann Traitor is an Assistant Adjunct Professor of History. Her research specializations are in anti-Soviet underground resistance movements in the Baltic states and religious history.  She is a board member of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Sciences and a frequent contributor to Draugas News, a cultural magazine of the Lithuanian-American community. She also bakes great bread and makes knitted birds. She divides her time unequally, often ending up with an improper fraction.