Sarah Willen
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sarahwillen.bsky.social
Sarah Willen
@sarahwillen.bsky.social
540 followers 280 following 14 posts
Time to figure this place out I guess.

Professor of Anthropology | https://tinyurl.com/SSW-UConn
Pandemic Journaling Project | https://tinyurl.com/PandemicJournaling
ARCHES | https://arches.chip.uconn.edu
Also: https://tinyurl.com/FightingforDignity
Posts Replies Media Videos
sarahwillen.bsky.social
The first time I heard the phrase "publish a dataset" I thought, "well, that doesn't apply to us. Why would an anthropologist publish their data?" It's been a minute, and now I understand why *sometimes* it's actually a great thing to do. And we did it!
September 11, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Sarah Willen
uconnhumanities.bsky.social
Today’s read: Former fellow @sarahwillen.bsky.social on the premature deinstallation of the CDC Museum exhibition “Health Is a Human Right: Achieving Health Equity.”
buff.ly/A7gnB4t
September 2, 2025 at 4:08 PM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
Right now, the chaos at #CDC is front-page, above-the-fold news. In "normal" times, what role has CDC played in communicating about the field of #publichealth: its goals, history, core values, mistakes -- and efforts to correct course?And now: What are we losing?

#HHS #Smithsonian #health #science
sarahwillen.bsky.social Sarah Willen @sarahwillen.bsky.social · Aug 27
Did you know CDC has a museum, & that for decades it's done amazing work communicating about what #publichealth is & why it matters? In this new #HealthAffairsForefront essay, I write about their recent exhibition - & why we should care that it came down nearly 2 months early. tinyurl.com/bdcmafxh
Equity And Human Rights In Freefall: Bad News About A “Good News” Exhibition At CDC | Health Affairs Forefront
Given the vast scope and scale of the damage being wrought by the current US administration in the US and around the globe, it might seem trivial to care about something as minor as the premature demise of a temporary exhibition at an Atlanta, Georgia, museum. In this moment, however, as established health systems are being dismantled, the federal workforce is being purposefully demoralized and traumatized, and the fabric of democracy is being torn asunder, the lessons of this exhibition are more important than ever.
tinyurl.com
August 28, 2025 at 6:17 PM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
Did you know CDC has a museum, & that for decades it's done amazing work communicating about what #publichealth is & why it matters? In this new #HealthAffairsForefront essay, I write about their recent exhibition - & why we should care that it came down nearly 2 months early. tinyurl.com/bdcmafxh
Equity And Human Rights In Freefall: Bad News About A “Good News” Exhibition At CDC | Health Affairs Forefront
Given the vast scope and scale of the damage being wrought by the current US administration in the US and around the globe, it might seem trivial to care about something as minor as the premature demise of a temporary exhibition at an Atlanta, Georgia, museum. In this moment, however, as established health systems are being dismantled, the federal workforce is being purposefully demoralized and traumatized, and the fabric of democracy is being torn asunder, the lessons of this exhibition are more important than ever.
tinyurl.com
August 27, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Sarah Willen
pandemicjournaling.bsky.social
NEW ARTICLE:
‘It’s not where we are, it’s who we’re near’: Crisis & caring labor in the COVID narratives of middle-class white women in the US

rb.gy/ilaa6d @americananthro.bsky.social @socmedanthro.bsky.social sky.social @uconninchip.bsky.social nchip.bsky.social @uconnhumanities.bsky.social
‘It’s not where we are, it’s who we’re near’: crisis and caring labor in the COVID narratives of middle-class white women in the United States
In the United States (US), rates of residential relocation within and across states skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pattern has been widely attributed to people’s desires for improve...
rb.gy
July 25, 2025 at 3:05 PM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
So much garbage this week, but starting the weekend with a bursting heart after reading this wonderful review of my ❤️'s (@wogenstein.bsky.social) new book with Dieter Koller in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (!) @faznet.bsky.social:

Link to book in commments www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...
Shmerke Kaczerginski Sammlung von Liedern aus dem Wilnaer Ghetto
„Schreib sie auf, aber mach sie nicht schöner“: 1946 sammelte Shmerke Kaczerginski die jiddischen Lieder Überlebender aus dem Wilnaer Ghetto. Ihre Übersetzung sichert Erinnerung und Zukunft gemeinsam.
www.faz.net
May 9, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Reposted by Sarah Willen
pandemicjournaling.bsky.social
We're honored to bring our "Picturing the Pandemic" exhibit to @maxwellsu.bsky.social @ @syracuseu.bsky.social, in partnership with our friends at @qdr.bsky.social. (QDR) is now home to our Phase I data! Check out the exhibition in the Maxwell Hall foyer till 5/15.

Read more @ link in comments.
Two post-it notes contributed to the interactive poster at the exhibition Interactive poster for the exhibit. People can add post-it notes reflecting on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives. Image of the Picturing the Pandemic exhibit installed in Syracuse University's Maxwell Hall foyer. A visitor reads the opening panel. Image of the Picturing the Pandemic exhibit installed in Syracuse University's Maxwell Hall foyer.
May 7, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Sarah Willen
pandemicjournaling.bsky.social
Grateful for the opportunity to discuss COVID journaling, archiving, and memorialization this AM on WNPR's Where We Live, together with Kristin Urquiza of the important group @markedbycovid.bsky.social.
www.ctpublic.org/show/where-w...
How we remember the COVID-19 pandemic
Over a million people in the United States alone have died from COVID-19. Today, we hear of efforts to commemorate these deaths, and ensure that the history of the COVID-19 pandemic is not forgotten.
www.ctpublic.org
March 11, 2025 at 3:22 PM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
Really looking forward to this.
pandemicjournaling.bsky.social Pandemic Journaling Project @pandemicjournaling.bsky.social · Mar 10
FIVE YEARS.
Join us TOMORROW (Tuesday, 3/11) at 6pm ET as we gather to mark this sober milestone and consider the value of collaborations like PJP, especially in dangerous times. tinyurl.com/PJP-5-Years

@americananthro.bsky.social @uconninchip.bsky.social @appliedanthro.bsky.social
Post includes event info included in post over an image of wooden chairs and tables roped off in a public square with a German sign taped on saying "Do not sit here!".
March 10, 2025 at 8:02 PM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
Amid the chaos, our @pandemicjournaling.bsky.social team is inviting folks to look, think, reflect on where we were -- and how we got to where we are now.
@uconn.bsky.social folks esp.: hope you can swing by.
pandemicjournaling.bsky.social Pandemic Journaling Project @pandemicjournaling.bsky.social · Mar 6
Join us TODAY 3/6 @ 4pm at UConn's Babbidge Library to mark 5 years of COVID by launching, "Picturing the Pandemic: Images from the Pandemic Journaling Project."

On display till 3/20, then => @qdr.bsky.social in Syracuse, NY

@uconn.bsky.social @uconninchip.bsky.social @uconnlibrary.bsky.social
Image shows exhibit banners for the Pandemic Journaling project exhibition, Picturing the Pandemic, in the entrance to the University of Connecticut's Babbidge Library. Exhibition website is at https://picturingthepandemic.org/. Image shows exhibit banners for the Pandemic Journaling project exhibition, Picturing the Pandemic, in the entrance to the University of Connecticut's Babbidge Library. Exhibition website is at https://picturingthepandemic.org/. Image shows key exhibit banner for the Pandemic Journaling project exhibition, Picturing the Pandemic, in the entrance to the University of Connecticut's Babbidge Library. Banner text reads: Thinking about five years of COVID. Let’s ask the big questions. Why did most of us not die? Science. Where are scientists made? In our schools and universities. Science is slow, and costly, and imperfect. It also saved — and saves — lives. Yet the past five years have seen a rise in skepticism and anger at the scientific community. How did we get here? Five years of COVID, five years of PJP The Pandemic Journaling Project is many things. It’s an online journaling platform. A community engaged project. A quiet space to remember and reflect. It’s also science. How has PJP been able to chronicle the pandemic? Through investments in the common good: universities, libraries, museums and historical societies, community-based organizations. Through the investments we — in the US and around the world — make in each other, in our communities, and in the future. Will we have these resources going forward?
March 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by Sarah Willen
pandemicjournaling.bsky.social
Odd time for an introduction, but here we are!
It's been 5 years since COVID-19 turned our world upside down. We're still trying to process it, on top of all else.

Join us on 3/11 @ 6pm ET as we mark this sober milestone & report back on our incredible collaborative project. tinyurl.com/PJP-5-Years
Image shows event name and details, as outlined in post, along with the questions: It's been fige years since COVID-19 turned our worlds upside down, What have we learned? What have we lost? How have we changed? Image shows a photo of wooden chairs and tables in a public plaza, roped off with red and white tape with a sign that says, in German, do not sit here.
March 3, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Reposted by Sarah Willen
rika99.bsky.social
No Other Land Oscars acceptance speech: youtu.be/3gzo7PiFiaM
'No Other Land' Wins Best Documentary Feature Film | 97th Oscars Speech (2025)
YouTube video by Oscars
youtu.be
March 3, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Sarah Willen
sgadarian.bsky.social
Folks, there is so much going on right now, I think we’re all going to need to pick a lane or two to be attentive to and act on. That doesn’t mean other areas aren’t important but there’s only so much bandwidth that we need to work collectively.
January 29, 2025 at 1:36 AM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
Finally, some useful words -- plucked from the clear blue sky:
- "flamboyantly preposterous"‪ (@angus.bsky.social‬)
- "patently moronic" ‪(@avielroshwald.bsky.social‬)
- "fresh disaster studies" (@usofdisaster.bsky.social‬)
sarahwillen.bsky.social Sarah Willen @sarahwillen.bsky.social · Nov 14
Desperately lacking words in response to all that's crashing down at the moment, but ready for a new place to listen in. So hi.
November 16, 2024 at 3:53 AM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
In times this dark, we've gotta find joy where we can. Kind of fun to watch the scramble on over here.
November 16, 2024 at 3:43 AM
sarahwillen.bsky.social
Desperately lacking words in response to all that's crashing down at the moment, but ready for a new place to listen in. So hi.
November 14, 2024 at 1:39 AM