SPOHP Director Dr. Paul Ortiz is teaching a course this spring on oral history!
This interdisciplinary seminar is an intensive introduction to the
theory and practice of oral history. Students will have access to the
resources of the award-winning Samuel Proctor Oral History Program. We
will learn the craft of oral history interviewing and digital
production. We will study the burgeoning impact of oral history in human
rights and racial truth and reconciliation initiatives, social justice
documentaries, digital archives, public museums, other contexts. We will
cover a wide range of debates including the paradox of memory, the role
of nation, class, gender, genocide, and racial inequalities in shaping
memories. Students will be able to use the skills learned in this class
in order to become more effective interviewers, digital producers and
writers in various fields including history, journalism, film, radio, as
well as ethnography. Case studies will include oral history methods in
US, Latin American, European, and African histories and texts.