Capturing diverse stories from the coronavirus pandemic

The Chico State Valene L.

Smith Museum of Anthropology hosts a community discussion to gather diverse viewpoint on the pandemic for an upcoming exhibit

With chico state's museum of anthropology recently invited educators and civic leaders for a panel - which i hosted - to gather input for an upcoming exhibit - it will highlight the social, health, and economic impacts of the coronavirus to diverse groups.

The goal - create more inclusive museum narratives.

Pkg the valene (va- lane) l.

Smith museum of anthropology says it's mission is to promote respect and appreciation for human diversity through our exhibits.

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"and we wanted to focus more broadly on pandemics and epidemics and looking at racism itself as a pandemic."

To get a better idea of how different communities and individuals are feelin* the pandemic, curators pulled together a diverse group of community leaders and educators.

We asked, what are the challenges you are seeing among the families and children you serve?

"the learning loss we see is growing and the divide between the socio- economic status between students is just expanding, more and more everyday that we're in this situation."

"i see kids who would love to socialize and be in school, and not all of them have the same socio-economic or mentoring from family and parents as other children."

It's not just about the people who don't have financial access, but our region doesn't have the infrastructure to support the kinds of work we need to do on the internet."

"people are a becoming a little edgy with each other; it's the stress.

So i've started some workshops and journaling programs within the museum."

"the old model is that a museum curator knows everything and we are trying to throw that out the window and bring more people in."

Some of the other issues participants say they are seeing... those already struggling with mental health having a tough time and parents - who are not computer saavy - struggling with online education.

This virtual exhibit is planned for january of next year.