Oral History, Theory & Method in the United States

Catalog description

History, as most of us are taught it in school, has long been written by, and for, the powerful, and historical archives are often considered fixed bases for "fact." Oral history turns these notions on their heads. While, as a cultural practice, oral history has long been utilized informally, oral history was brought into the academy as an ethics and method by scholars and activists in the mid-20th century in order to infuse and nuance history with the voices and histories of disempowered groups and peoples-people of color, women, indigenous communities, differently abled people, political radicals, laborers and the working poor, and the LGBTQIA+ community. In this course, we'll engage in a critical assessment of the practice of oral history, with the goal of understanding the context of its origins and uses and examining the ethics and principles that shape it as a mode of research. We'll read and listen to exemplary oral history interviews by noted practitioners in the field, and develop relational interview skills that prize power-sharing, trust-building, careful questioning, and consider the notion of co-creativity. A core part of this course is learning The Listening Guide method, pioneered by psychologist Carol Gilligan, which we use to analyze oral history interviews; this method calls upon and hones deep listening skills, considers the relational elements of dialogue, and engages researcher/interviewers in deep self-observation and reflection about their own role and impact on both process and "result." As the capstone experience of the course, students will design, carry out, and analyze oral history interviews of their own, with a final project that can be presented as a written analysis, audio documentary/podcast, or multi-media/video. This course is particularly well-suited for students interested in history, cultural studies, psychology/social work,…