Research Data & Publications | The Pandemic Journaling Project

Journal entries from PJP's first phase and our subsequent spin-off projects are helping to illuminate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the everyday lives of people around the world. You can find our growing list of research publications below. If you need help accessing an article, email us at pandemicjournalingproject@gmail.com to request a PDF.

PUBLISHED DATASETS

Interested in working with PJP data in your own research? All data from our first phase (PJP-1) have been published at the Qualitative Data Repository (QDR) at Syracuse University. Data access requires IRB approval (from your home institution) and willingness to comply with all terms of access (set by QDR and the PJP team).

Willen, Sarah S.; Mason, Katherine A.. 2024. "Data for: The Pandemic Journaling Project, Phase One (PJP-1)". Qualitative Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5064/F6PXS9ZK. QDR Main Collection. V1.

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

SPECIAL ISSUES

2024 "Student Experiences of Covid-19 around the Globe: Insights from the Pandemic Journaling Project." Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. Guest editors: Heather M. Wurtz, Sarah S. Willen, & Katherine A. Mason.

Wurtz, Heather M., Sarah S. Willen, and Katherine A. Mason. (2024) “Introduction: Student Experiences of Covid-19 around the Globe: Insights from the Pandemic Journaling Project.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09848-6.

Peer-reviewed articles

Flores, Andrea and Katherine A. Mason. (2023) “'You would think she would hug me': Micropractices of Care between First-generation College Students and their Parents during Covid-19.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-023-09833-5.
Mason, Katherine A. and Jianmei Xie (2024) “Seesaw Precarity: Journaling Anxious Hope on a Chinese University Campus During COVID-19.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09846-8.
Willen, Sarah S., Michael Ennis-McMillan, and Kristina Baines. (2023) “Cultivating Voice and Solidarity in Times of Crisis: Ethnographic Online Journaling as a Pedagogical Tool.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. doi: 10.1007/s11013-023-09832-6.
Wurtz, Heather M., Maria Hernandez, and Madeline Baird. (2023) “Thriving Despite the Odds: Digital Capital and Reimagined Life Projects Among Mexican College Students During COVID‑19.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. doi: 10.1007/s11013-023-09839-z.

Commentaries

Trok, Lorato and Nancy J. Jacobs. (2024) "Reaching Out from Lockdown: A Writing Group for Young Black South Africans." Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09850-y.
Vicente da Silva, Renan, Carlos Eduardo Assunção Alves, Mayana Ribeiro Montenario, and Laura Rebecca Murray. (2024) “Writing to Create, Mend, and Rebel: Three Reflections on Journaling as Escrevivência for Afro-Brazilian Public University Students during COVID-19.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry.
Márquez Rodríguez, Cristopher Bogart. (2024) “The Eschucha (Listen) Podcast Project: Psycho-social Innovation for Marginalized Mexican Youth and Young Adults.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-024-09847-7.

2022 "Journaling and Mental Health During COVID-19: Insights from the Pandemic Journaling Project." Social Science & Medicine-Mental Health. Guest editors: Katherine A. Mason, Sarah S. Willen, & Heather M. Wurtz.

Wurtz, Heather M., Sarah S. Willen, and Katherine A. Mason. 2022. “Introduction: Journaling and Mental Health during COVID-19: Insights from the Pandemic Journaling Project.” SSM - Mental Health. 2: 100141.
Larotonda, Alice & Katherine A. Mason. 2022. "New life, new feelings of loss: Journaling new motherhood during Covid-19." SSM - Mental Health. 2: 100120.
Kalinowski Jolaade, Madeline Baird, Heather M. Wurtz, Sarah S. Willen. 2022. "Shouldering the load yet again: Black women’s experiences of stress during COVID-19." SSM - Mental Health. 2: 100140.
Ansari, David. 2022. "An Accumulation of Distress: Grief, Loss, and Isolation among Healthcare Providers during the COVID-19 Pandemic." SSM - Mental Health. 2: 100146.
Baines, Kristina. 2022. “'It’s normal to admit you’re not okay': New York City college students shaping mental health through journaling." SSM - Mental Health 2, 100119.
Parson, Nia, Heather M. Wurtz, Megan Lowry, C. Santos. 2022. "'Life will go on with the beauty of the roses”: The moral dimensions of coping With distress through autobiographical writing during Covid-19." SSM - Mental Health 2, 100156.
Parsons, Michelle. A., 2022. “'I miss my friends, but I also miss strangers': Pandemic loneliness and the importance of place and practice." SSM - Mental Health 2, 100121.
Willen, Sarah S., 2022. “'Languishing' in critical perspective: Roots and routes of a traveling concept in COVID-19 times." SSM - Mental Health 2, 100128.

ARTICLES

2025 Wurtz, Heather M., Salma Mutwafy, Sarah S. Willen, and Katherine A. Mason. "‘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." Gender, Place & Culture, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2025.2523894.

2024 Wurtz, Heather M., Andrea Flores, Sarah S. Willen, and Katherine A. Mason. “Engaging Immigrant Women in Online Journaling as a Mode of Research and Psychosocial Support: Lessons Learned.” Practicing Anthropology. 1-13.

2024 Mason, Katherine A., Heather M. Wurtz, Sofia Boracci, and Sarah S. Willen. “Assembling vaccine perspectives: Vaccination and moral self-talk in the journals of white US mothers during Covid-19.” Social Science & Medicine—Qualitative Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2024.100454.

2024 Parsons, Michelle Anne, Katherine A. Mason, Heather M. Wurtz, and Sarah S. Willen. “ 'I want the world back': Pandemic loneliness, bodies, and places.” Ethos. https://doi.org/10.1111/etho.12423.

2022 Wurtz, Heather M. “Journaling as a rights-based intervention during pandemic times: An interview with the creators of the Pandemic Journaling Project.” Journal of Human Rights.

- In Portuguese: Wurtz, Heather M. 2023. “‘Journaling’ como uma intervenção baseada em direitos em tempos de pandemia: Uma entrevista com Sarah S. Willen e Katherine A. Mason, criadoras do Projeto Diário da Pandemia (Pandemic Journaling Project.” Transl: Thayane Brêtas de Araujo. Metaxy. 4(1): 156-165.
- In Spanish: Wurtz, Heather M. (2023). "Entrevista con las creadoras del Proyecto Diarios de la Pandemia." Transl: Ana Pérez. Estudios Sociológicos De El Colegio De México. 41(123): 867–882.

2020 Willen, Sarah S., Sebastian Wogenstein, and Katherine A. Mason. 2020. “Everyday Disruptions and Jewish Dilemmas: Preliminary Insights from the Pandemic Journaling Project.” Jewish Social Studies. 26(1). 192-212.