ORAL HISTORY; COURSES


Oral History and Performance		Stories Matter. Students enrolled in these two-semester seminar-studio courses will explore the creative intersection between oral history, new media and performing arts. The twinned courses are divided into two phases corresponding with the Fall and Winter terms. Phase I will concentrate on the theory and practice of oral history. Students will examine practical and ethical dilemmas related to the field and design an Oral History project. Phase II will build on the work done in Phase I. Students will engage in "hands-on" explorations of ethical and practical considerations relating to the use of performing arts and new media to create performance pieces to draw-on, incorporate or otherwise engage with oral histories.
Oral History Workshop Download Syllabus		In this course you will learn the theory and practice of oral history. Unlike other seminars, however, the "workshop" course has a strong "applied" dimension. Class time will therefore be spent examining the practical and ethical dilemmas faced by the oral historian while working together in a digital oral history project of our own making, the outcomes of which might include an interactive website, a walking tour, or other public engagement. With the permission of the interviewees, the audio or videotaped interviews will be donated to a local archive as a permanent contribution to the history of the region.

Oral History and Urban Change Download Syllabus		Students enrolled in this course will learn how to map memories in the context of urban change. Place identity and attachment will be central to our conversation. “The identity of places is very much bound up with the histories which are told of them; how these histories are told, and which history turns out to be dominant,” writes geographer Doreen Massey. If place attachment is a symbolic bond between people and place, this bond is often severed in times of transformative change. People then attempt to re-create these attachments by remembering and talking about these “lost” landscapes.

Working Class Public History insert couse specifics - when offered Download Syllabus \| Visit Website		“Working Class Public History”, in this instance, refers to both a subject of study – working people – and to a potential method of doing public history from the bottom-up. Students enrolled in this seminar will explore how working people and work have been remembered and represented around the world in museums, on-line exhibitions, monuments, statuary, public murals, historic sites, oral history projects, the built environment and so on. Students will then apply what they learn to the history of working class families in the Montreal area. Working independently, or in groups of two or three, students will develop a small public history project that will culminate in a research report, classroom presentation, and web page.


Practicing Oral History in our Communities A Spring 2009 Open University course Sponsored by Concordia University’s Institute in Community Development		The stories people tell matter. They matter for what they tell us about the past and for how they connect us to our families, friends, and greater community. In this 2-day workshop, participants will receive an introduction to oral history interviewing and digital tools to help design and carry out their community projects. Day 1 will focus on the oral history methodology and the ethical issues involved. In Day 2 participants will learn about digital technologies that are opening new ways of working directly and easily with interviews. Prior experience with oral history or digital technology is not necessary. The workshop will be led by Anna Sheftel and Michael Klassen.

Oral History Workshop: L'Abri en Ville A Spring 2009 Open University course Sponsored by Concordia University’s Institute in Community Development. Visit Website		In this course, participants will learn about oral history interviewing. In particular, they will receive basic training in oral history interviewing skills, ethics, project design, and in the new digital technologies that are making it easier to work with recorded interviews. No prior experience is necessary. The course will be facilitated by Stacey Zembrzycki and Erin Jesse with technological support by Michael Klassen.