Sara Baumann

Sara Baumann, PhD is a Post-Doctoral Associate in the department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. She is a global health researcher with interests in creative, visual research methods and mental health. Her current research harnesses participatory, arts-based research methods to study complex social and cultural health issues. 

Sara is also a trained filmmaker passionate about applying creative techniques to illuminate health and social justice issues. Her dissertation research included creating Collaborative Filmmaking, a participatory film-based research method to study health as an embodied experience. Through her film production company, Old Fan Films she creates films on a range of topics and settings, including climate change, water and sanitation, coping with illness, and menstrual health in Nepal, India, Thailand and beyond. Her work has been featured in diverse media outlets from NPR to Glamour Magazine, and her films have been screened at the Smithsonian Institute, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and United Nations Headquarters. Sara was the lead researcher for the Art Heals project.

“Being based in Nepal during the 2015 earthquakes, I witnessed the widespread destruction left in their aftermath, saw how they devastated communities, and personally felt the lingering post-traumatic effects on my own mental health and wellbeing. Through discussions with communities, I quickly realized that I was not alone in my feelings of anxiety, stress, and fear. Fortunately, in the weeks and months after the earthquakes I began to notice beautiful works of art being created, initiated, and restored, and this gave me a sense of hope and peace; I began to wonder if it did the same for others trying to heal and cope after such loss. This project is dedicated to exploring the impact of those art works after trauma, and what art means for restoring community.”

                                                                                                    -Sara Baumann