HIS 5944 (3/6-3/12/2021)

 

This week surrounded the continued efforts of marketing towards the Student Government and political centered organizations. The marketing aspect of the project has an endless potential of gathering perspectives that I continue to explore. Student Government and the political organizations on campus sometimes are overlooked due to their seemingly difficult entry to email yet I experienced the opposite of that preconceived notion. The Student Government officers, and officers of these UCF sanctioned clubs were rapid in their response and enthusiasm to contribute to the project. I am thankful that the students and officials in these institutions participated in the project, allowing for a perspective of COVID-19 beyond the average student.

Outside of those aspects of marketing, the professor I was slated to be interviewing needed to reschedule which was slightly disappointing. However, I understand that we are in the mid-spring semester where examinations are still occurring and preparation for spring break is coming up. In the future, I would like more than just this professor and one from the History Department. A marketing team would be a perfect fit for this project if we had an unlimited amount of manpower to garner more attention. Mary informed me on Monday that we would be holding off on the social media post due to the massive influx of interviews this week. Hopefully, we continue to see that trend exhibited by UCF students and faculty.

Last week saw me email the College Democrats and College Republicans for an interview as they were the main popular political RSO (official) UCF clubs on campus. The involvement of these two clubs allows for a researcher or viewer to understand the political side of COVID-19 and the University of Central Florida. Were students active or passive during the quarantine or where they actively campaigning? Questions like that were the initial ones to come to mind along with the 2020 presidential election amidst a pandemic.

However, I was very worried about skewing the project and muddying the intent. Historians often deal with the problem of attempting to be indifferent or seemingly apolitical. However, I have learned most historians mask their political perspectives as best as they can. Obviously, Marxist historians present their political affiliation easier than other historians. For me, I tried to remain impartial to both sides and make sure that the College Dems and College Republicans were given the same questions and emailing both. Only the College Democrats have schedule and given interviews for me to use while the College Republicans have not given me anything. Much like last week, should historians remain politically active within their sphere? It is a difficult debate that seems to be up to the historian themself. Either way, I cannot deny that the political aspect of the pandemic remains absolutely vital in policies enacted by the universities. It is almost inescapable to converse or discuss policies without identifying the political lens. 

The College Democrats' interview helped me reaffirm my confidence in facilitating the discussion of politics with their Vice President and President. They were very professional in making sure that it did not dive too much into the political area and I, sometimes, interjected to keep them within the parameters of the project. However, I discovered a vast amount of information from these interviews. Aspects of students campaigning, making sure that people were following UCF guidelines, and a plethora of information that solidified the potential of these interviews.

This week taught me about the care of handling a controversial topic such as politics within archival and historical work. Politics can be a divisive topic to anyone that may alienate your audience or peers. However, this archival internship has helped me gain more experience in dealing with these subjects and utilize this to further enhance the potential of the project. These perspectives will be very beneficial for those looking back on UCF students’ response to the pandemic within the pandemic.