Flinders University graduate, Dr Susan Marsden, a professional historian, has shared her expertise in history projects to engage online audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2013 Dr Susan Marsden (PhD(SS) ’95) and her husband Michael Szwarcbord (BSocAdmin ’77) co-founded the Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation, a charitable organisation that supports literature, particularly history writing. The Foundation has funded the mentorship of an early-career historian, Flinders PhD student Sandra Kearney (BA(Hons) ’19) and the Make history at home project.

In this project, Susan and Sandra are co-producing a series of videos on how to make productive use of your time at home by documenting your life, family and local history, along with how to preserve and share photographs and other family treasures.

Watch the Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation Make history at home instructional videos on YouTube and keep up to date with the project on Facebook and Instagram. To be part of the project add #mszfMakeHistoryAtHome to your online stories and photos.

If you would like to learn more about the Make history at home project or the Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation, contact Susan smarsden@mszfhistory.org.au

On 9 May 2020 Susan and Tom Gara presented COVID-19 and the Spanish flu: how do the two pandemics compare? The webinar was co-hosted by the History Council of SA and the History Trust of SA as part of the presentation, South Australians living through pandemics & the value of their stories. Sign into Zoom to watch the webinar here.