Items

• 
  2021-07-24

  Joseph D. Joseph, Oral History, July 24, 2021

  Ashley Tibollo sits down with Joseph D. Joseph in an ice cream shop in Buffalo, New York to discuss how his life has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this interview, Joseph describes changes in his day-to-day routine, his life as a martial arts instructor, and changes in his economic status. He also discusses his students and how the pandemic affected them. In the last part of this interview, Joseph discusses his views on politics and what he hopes the future generations will learn about the response to this pandemic.
• 
  2020-04-17

  Student, Instructor, Soldier: Leaving to Help With the COVID-19 Pandemic

  During Spring of 2020, I was wearing many hats. I was a 1st Lieutenant in the Texas Army National Guard, a husband, a father of two girls, a PhD student, a research assistant for the department chair of the Texas A&M Anthropology Department, and an Anthropology Instructor at Blinn College. Everything changed on April 17th, 2020 when I was activated with the National Guard on 45 day orders starting at 0800 on April 18th. I packed my bags, told my kids and wife goodbye, and sent emails to my supervisors at Blinn College and Texas A&M University. Two of the emails featured here are the emails that I sent to my supervisors. My orders were initially for 45 days but were later extended to 93 days in total. I sent updates to my supervisors as I learned new information. One update email to Dr. De Ruiter at Texas A&M University is featured in this email collection as well. This is my third activation with the National Guard in the past three years. I have been called to floods, hurricanes, and now a pandemic. Serving the people of the State of Texas is never boring, but it can be difficult on the family and jobs that I leave behind. I hope these emails speak to that struggle.