In this spotlight interview, the Department of Anthropology caught up with Deborah Cherman '25, a Medical Anthropology and Health and Human Biology concentrator, to learn more about her work as a research assistant for the Pandemic Journaling Project. 

"When I came to Brown, I knew I was interested in exploring how different factors – environmental, economic, cultural, and biological – affect people's experiences and understandings of health, illness, and care. When I took Professor Mason's class, Culture and Health, I was extremely excited to find out that Medical Anthropology allowed me to do just that.

This past summer, I started working with Professor Mason as a research assistant for the Pandemic Journaling Project (PJP). The PJP provided a platform for participants from all over the world to record their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and we now have the opportunity to look at that data through many different lenses. This semester, I've been focusing on an analysis of journals that touch on topics of disability and caregiving to try to understand how resources and relationships might have been disrupted by the pandemic. Through this work, I've been gaining experience in anthropological research in a context that feels extremely relevant and important."