COHDS

COHDS Choir: Sounds of Home, Sounds of Elsewheres
2026-01-15 18:00 - 2026-04-23 20:00 (America/New_York) | Concordia University, LB-1042 (COHDS), 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd O, Montreal
With Sara Lucas
“Sounds of Home, Sounds of Elsewheres” is a community choir project led by Sara Lucas, open to COHDS members who want to sing together beyond their research. The repertoire will explore storytelling through song, focusing on how personal and community histories are shared and passed down.
The project embraces the idea that everyone can express themselves through sound and movement, using an inclusive approach to developing natural voices. Songs will be learned mainly by ear, so no singing or music-reading experience is required. Rehearsals will emphasize breathwork, harmony, and unison singing, encouraging diverse forms of expression and joy. The group will work toward a performance for COHDS’ 20th anniversary in October 2026, with participation encouraged but not mandatory.
Sara Lucas is a composer-performer and vocalist with twenty years of ensemble experience. She has toured internationally with Callers and LADAMA, produced multiple albums, and taught community-based music programs worldwide. More at: https://www.saralucas.net/
We will be meeting from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on the following dates:
January
Thursday, January 15 Thursday, January 29

February
Thursday, February 12 Thursday, February 26

March
Thursday, March 12 Thursday, March 26

April
Thursday, April 9 Thursday, April 23
If you’re interested in participating, please reach out to Sara Lucas at: sara.lucas@mail.concordia.ca

REGISTRATION
Register now with this link
Please note that all our events are free and open to all, but registration is mandatory. For any questions, please contact cohds.chorn@concordia.ca
LOCATION
In-person in LB-1019 (Sunroom) and LB-1042 (Acts of Listening Lab), Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS), Concordia University, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, J.W. McConnell Building (Library Building).
COHDS/ALLAB is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal.

Introduction à l’histoire orale
2026-04-20 15:00 - 17:00 | LB-1019 (Sunroom), COHDS, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., Montreal, Québec, Canada
Avec Lea Kabiljo
Cet atelier vous permettra d’explorer certains des éléments fondamentaux dans le domaine interdisciplinaire de l’histoire orale. Les participants découvriront une approche aux entretiens spécifique à l’histoire orale, l’éthique de la recherche et les nombreuses façons dont les histoires orales sont partagées avec le public. Cet atelier est fortement recommandé à tous nos nouvelles.eaux affilié.e.s, car il a pour but de présenter la méthodologie et l’éthique suivies par notre Centre.
Cet atelier offre des conseils sur la réalisation d’un projet d’histoire orale du début à la fin, y compris la planification du projet, les méthodes d’entretien, la gestion des données et le traitement des dossiers, ainsi que la diffusion de ceux-ci. L’atelier comprend également des moments interactif qui permettront aux participant.e.s de discuter des concepts clés et de mettre en pratique les stratégies d’entretien.

Lea Kabiljo, professeur à l’École d’art, Université Laval, est une chercheuse multidisciplinaire, dont l’expertise s’étend aux domaines des arts, de la pédagogie et de l’histoire orale. Elle porte un intérêt particulier à l’intégration de la photographie et de l’histoire orale dans sa démarche de recherche-création.
Titulaire d’un doctorat en éducation artistique de l’Université Concordia, sa recherche met en évidence une approche multidisciplinaire en examinant le potentiel pédagogique de l’histoire orale et de la photographie dans le domaine de l’enseignement artistique.
Ayant enseigné dans des milieux scolaires, communautaires et universitaires, Lea s’intéresse activement à la formation des enseignants, avec un accent particulier sur le développement des compétences socio-émotionnelles. Également reconnue pour son expertise en histoire orale, elle a dirigé de nombreux projets de recherche au Québec, ainsi que des initiatives d’envergure internationale.
Quadrilingue, ayant voyagé dans plus de trente pays et vécu sur quatre continents, Lea a développé une vision du monde ancrée dans les valeurs d’équité, de diversité et d’inclusion. Elle cherche constamment à appliquer ces principes dans toutes ses démarches, tant professionnelles que personnelles.

INSCRIPTION
Inscrivez-vous ici.
Veuillez noter que tous nos événements sont gratuits et ouverts à toutes et à tous. Cependant, vous devez réserver votre place. Pour participer à l’événement en présentiel évrivez à: cohds.chorn@concordia.ca
LIEU
Le CHORN/ALLAB sont situés sur le territoire non-cédé de Kanien’kehá:ka à Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal.
En personne à LB-1019 (salle Sunroom), Centre d’histoire orale et de narration numérique (COHDS), Université Concordia, 1400 boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest, pavillon J.-W. McConnell (pavillon de la Bibliothèque).

Personal Archives in the Interview Space
2026-04-30 14:00 - 16:00 | LB-1019 (Sunroom), COHDS, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., Montreal, Québec, Canada
With Kelann Currie-Williams and Derek Garcia

Much of oral history interview preparation rightly (and evidently) revolves around the audio and visual recording of the event. But what happens when the narrator brings their personal archives into the interview space?
Drawing from Monica Muñoz Martinez’s “vernacular history making,” personal archives are the objects—photos, drawings, notes, documents, digital creations—that individuals collect to preserve historical perspectives which may not be considered by institutional archives. This workshop envisions these moments of sharing as opportunities to learn with the narrator; despite the surprise they may bring.
How do you include these objects in the interview? How do you record their presence? How might a researcher design ethics around this possibility? Garcia and Currie-Williams will discuss their experiences interviewing individuals who brought more to the interview than what was expected, and how they effectively included these materials in their dialogue.

Kelann Currie-Williams is a writer and PhD Candidate at Concordia University’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture, working at the intersections of Visual Culture Studies, History, Black Studies, and Cultural Studies. Their research focuses on the image-making and photographic preservation histories of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora in Canada from the late 19th to late 20th centuries. Kelann was a 2023-2024 scholar-in-residence and 2024-2025 Student Representative of the COHDS Administrative Board.
Derek Xavier Garcia is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at Concordia University. His research falls at the intersections of culture, memory, and history of Mexican American and Chicanx activist movements. His dissertation explores educational activism at Colegio Jacinto Treviño (1970-1976), the first Mexican American college in the United States. Derek was a 2022-2023 Student Representative on the COHDS Administrative Board and is currently a 2025-2026 Scholar-in-Residence at the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling.

REGISTRATION
Register now with this link
Please note that all our events are free and open to all, but registration is mandatory. For any questions, please contact cohds.chorn@concordia.ca
LOCATION
In-person in LB-1019 (Sunroom), Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS), Concordia University, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, J.W. McConnell Building (Library Building).
COHDS/ALLAB is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal.

Cooking With COHDS: Palacsintá – Sharing Stories and Pancakes from the Hungarian Montreal Community
2026-05-01 13:00 - 16:00 | Concordia’s SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation (LB-145), 1400 Boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montréal
With Sonya Di Sclafani

In Montreal’s Hungarian community, food is not only a reflection of stability, tradition, and assimilation, but also carries meanings of family, nostalgia, and joy. Palacsintá, a sweet or savory Hungarian crêpe, is a well-loved and easy dish that can be filled with jam, ground walnut purée, farmer’s cheese, cabbage, and meats. In this workshop we will learn to make palacsintá and create both a sweet and a savory filling. To accompany us, a member of the Hungarian diaspora in Montreal will be invited to share their recollections of palacsintá and other food practices of the community.
This workshop on foodways in the Hungarian diaspora forms part of my larger research project on the history of Hungarian-Canadian refugees and their descendants who made Montreal home in the mid-twentieth century. In my oral history fieldwork, I turn to women’s memories of foodways as a way of tracing the intergenerational, interethnic, and gendered dynamics of forced migration and homemaking by Hungarian Canadian women in the second half of the twentieth century. I hope that you can join us!

Sonya Di Sclafani is a MA student (History) at Concordia University, where she previously completed both a BFA in Photography and Art History and a BA Honours in History, with a minor in English Literature. She is interested in exploring experiences of migration, cross-cultural contact, East European history, and Jewish history. Her MA thesis examines the history of Montreal’s Hungarian diaspora, with a particular eye to gendered foodways and food as a means of cultural continuity and disruption. Drawing on newspaper and archival research, she has begun to map the culinary landscape of Hungarian restaurants and food speciality stores in Montreal that provided spaces for inter-ethnic encounters, fondly remembered in some of the oral history interviews she conducted to date.

REGISTRATION
Register now with this link
As part of our exploration of Hungarian foodways and oral histories, we will be preparing and eating a small meal together. Given space constraints, we need to limit the number of participants to fifteen. We will purchase food items based on the number of registered attendees. Should you be unable to attend, may we ask that you let us know at least one week in advance? We’d then be able to calibrate our food purchases accordingly and/or offer your spot to a participant on the waiting list.
Please note that all our events are free and open to all, but registration is mandatory. For any questions, please contact cohds.chorn@concordia.ca
LOCATION
In-person at “The SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation,” LB-145, Concordia University, 1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, J.W. McConnell Building (Library Building).
COHDS/ALLAB is located on unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory, in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal.
