Oral Hist:fieldwork/documentn · Oral History
This class provided the 'how to' for becoming an oral historian. There was a lot of information helping us to plan and execute our oral history interviews. This was a very methodical and pragmatic approach to proceeding with our plans. The class was not ideological (we learned multiple perspectives on how to approach certain questions of legality, ethics, etc.) and we could take into consideration alternate viewpoints.
Nuts and bolts of technical side of oral history from project planning to interviewing to some recording.
How to conduct oral history! Recording, archiving, indexing, researching, metadata. Understanding OH as different from the fields I thought it similar to when i started the program--journalism and anthropology. In particular, I learned about the broadness of the field today. Oral history does not look one way. Being exposed to so many project designs, peer oral history recordings etc showed the amplitude of this.
Fieldwork was centered on practical skills and the hands-on experience of conducting interviews. I learned a great deal through my interactions with fieldwork partners. Additionally, the in-class discussions were helpful in addressing questions and challenges that arose during practice.
There's a lot that I feel I've learned in this course, broadly and deeply in terms of knowledge, skills and perspectives. In terms of skills, I feel confident operating professional audio equiptment, creating transcripts and indexes, and designing legal release forms for specific projects. In terms of knowledge, I feel that I'm able to conduct oral histories within OHA guidelines and that I really do understand what oral history is. In terms of perspective, I am leaving with a wide range of perspectives to pull from in developing my own style of oral history, from anthropologists to journalists to historians.
This class was an “oral history 101” and so it had teachings about oral history, transcribing, archiving, indexing, and other aspects of the practice. It is a mix of theory and practice, with the first being in class and the second being out of class. I learned a lot about project design and how to structure my ideas into a concise timeline and plan.
How to conduct an oral history, the best way to approach the field, what it means to be an oral historian, nuances critiques on the field
I learned what it takes to create and build a fieldwork project, gained more confidence in my ability to lead a project, and developed a clearer understanding and reference points for what it means to be a practicing oral historian and to create a meaningful project.
Fieldwork strategies, some theory and history for the field, some comparisons to other fields. We engaged with a few different cultures and socio-economic groups and types of sources and analysis.
project design, and thinking about working independently