Expatriate Life in the
Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people began documenting how this experience affected them, their loved ones, and their communities. To preserve material describing this historic crisis through the eyes of expatriates around the world, the EAC decided to launch the Expatriate Life in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic initiative.
As an institution that focuses on the social history of expatriation, the EAC collects and preserves material about how expatriates and repatriates are meeting the challenges they face while living abroad. This mission is even more important during exceptional and unprecedented times. Social history gives necessary context to the nuts-and-bolts information gathered by historians and their institutions: how do people cope, connect, make decisions, etc.? What was the local, lived experience of this global pandemic from day to day and week to week?
If you are an expatriate who lives or has lived temporarily in a country other than your home country — regardless of your country of origin or residence — and you have written about any topic related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are interested in preserving your story. Because of the global nature of the pandemic, we are open to receiving material in any language and format. Most forms of media and media channels will be accepted, such as:
• blogs;
• personal writings on paper;
• emails;
• social media posts and exchanges;
• photography that supplements writing.
The method of archiving will be tailored to the type of material, and a depository agreement, which outlines the rights and responsibilities of the archive and the donor, will need to be signed. Please send all inquiries to welcome@xpatarchive.com.
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