The COVID-19 Memory Archival Project is an initiative from Duke Kunshan University’s Health Humanities Lab to create an archive of the communities individual and shared experiences during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak utilizing ArcGIS StoryMaps, rich media and storytelling. We not only hope to preserve experiences through a memory archive, but also through personal narration, bring comfort, peace, reflection and healing to participating individuals. In times of anxiety and adversity, we retreat to an old human practice - storytelling, combined with online multimedia tools, to bring forth the human experience in times of crisis. Participants are encouraged to utilize an array of mediums including but not limited to video, audio, hyperlinks, interactive interfaces and GIS maps, paired with written text. The collected stories can provide a rich library and digital history that can act as source material for future reflection, research and project outcomes.

The COVID-19 Memory Archival Project is created and developed by Benjamin Bacon, Associate Professor of Media & Arts and Vivian (Weijing) Xu, Assistant Professor of Media & Arts. This chapter details their reflections on memories, storytelling and lived experiences surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak.

This project is generously supported by the Health Humanities Lab and the Humanities Research Center at Duke Kunshan University.

The COVID-19 Memory Archival Project: https://arcg.is/1OLGz1

The authors story map for the project: https://arcg.is/4faH0