With Julie Norman In this urgent and compelling book, Julie M. Norman and Maia Carter Hallward tell the story of Gaza from its early foundations, across decades of occupation, to the devastation of the ongoing war. Rather than focusing on elites or abstract politics, at the book's heart are ordinary Gazans - students, aid […]
With Martín Giraldo-Hoyos, Camille Robert, Florence Darveau Routhier This year, we are proud to highlight three outstanding postdoctoral researchers at COHDS and to showcase their work. Together, their projects reflect the breadth and vitality of oral history–informed scholarship: from collaborative research with Black farming communities in Colombia using oral history and digital storytelling, to historical […]
With Barbara Lorenzkowski, Tesfa Peterson, Franklin Bonivento Van Grieken and Derek Xavier Garcia To obtain the informed consent of our research participants is both an ethical and institutional obligation for oral historians working at Canadian universities. This workshop seeks to demystify the process of applying for ethics certification. Three emerging scholars will reflect on their […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
With Alistair Thomson How do we make sense of the memories that we record as oral historians? How do we begin to transform stories into histories? In this workshop we’ll consider a range of ways of approaching the interpretation of memories. We’ll note the changing ways that researchers have used memory as a historical […]
With Martha Norkunas This advanced oral history workshop focuses on miscommunications and complexities in listening. Participants will read a chapter from my forthcoming book, Learning to Listen, called “Complexities in Listening” and come to the workshop prepared to discuss the issues it raises. Based on years of listening journals written by graduate students in […]
Opening Plenary and Reception: Listening in the Age of Polycrisis Hosted at the MEM — Centre des Mémoires Montréalaises, 1210 Saint-Laurent Boulevard (Nearest metro station: St. Laurent Metro Station) Sponsored by the Centre de recherche interdisciplinairesur la diversité et la démocratie (CRIDAQ) A conversation about listening in an age of polycrisis, as several crises (economic, ecological, geopolitical, […]
The Kitchen Table Collective: Public Day of Workshops and Talks The Kitchen Table Collective (KTC) is an online network, founded by Anna Sheftel and Stacey Zembrzycki, whose members include leading scholars, artists, activists, and independent practitioners from around the world. Since 2023, the group has met virtually eight times a year to discuss members’ work, developments […]
With Steven High This workshop will provide you with some of the fundamentals in the interdisciplinary field of oral history. Participants will learn about an oral history approach to interviewing, ethics in research, and the many ways that oral histories are shared with the public. This workshop is strongly recommended to all new affiliates, […]
Keynote speaker: Ioana Radu “ Nurturing worlds of care and belonging: Indigenous Kinscapes and Oral History ” Ioana Radu is a professor at the School of Indigenous Studies at Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and COHDS core member. For more than two decades, Ioana has worked in partnership with Indigenous communities and organizations […]
With Frankie Ray In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn the essentials of setting up and recording oral history interviews with both video and audio. We will cover how to prepare a recording environment, assemble and test a recording rig, and troubleshoot common technical challenges. Beyond capturing the interview itself, participants will gain practical […]
Facilitated by Anna Sheftel, Stacey Zembrzycki and Cassandra Marsillo, who are Kitchen Table Collective Members Creating open, safe, generative, and generous spaces to tell interview stories is vital to thinking through the varied challenges that oral historians face in the field. These monthly listening circles, led by an intergenerational group of practitioners, will enable COHDS […]
This year, “Team COHDS” will be joining the Concordia Shuffle – an annual fundraiser for student scholarships and bursaries – to help raise funds for our annual “Award of Distinction in Oral History.” We are warmly inviting all members of our community to come and walk with us from Concordia’s downtown campus to Loyola on Friday, […]
Time The Sunroom The 4th Space Curating and Public Scholarship Lab (LB-671) 9:00–9:15 Words of Welcome 9:15–11:00 Roundtable: How Creative Practice Informs Listening to Real-Life Stories In Person Registration Remote Registration 11:00–11:30 ☕ Coffee / Tea Break (Media Lab) 11:30–13:30 Film Screening & Panel Discussion: Memoires of the Border: A Collection of Migrant Stories […]
COHDS Storytelling Festival: Festival Exhibitions October 6–9 Explore the festival exhibitions running throughout the COHDS Storytelling Festival from October 6–9, 2026. Featuring film screenings, podcasts, sound, touch, and creative works, these exhibitions invite visitors to engage with stories and creative practices across the festival. Thresholds of Sound and Touch: Listening to Land, Labour, and Memory […]
COHDS Storytelling Festival: “Oral History & Creative Practice” October 7 (Day 2) Join us October 6–9, 2026, for the COHDS Storytelling Festival: Oral History & Creative Practice, a four-day celebration marking COHDS’s 20th anniversary. Bringing together scholars, artists, students, and community practitioners from COHDS and beyond, the festival celebrates two decades of oral history, […]
Time The Sunroom The 4th Space SHIFT Walking Tour 9:30–11:00 Oral History & Performance With Mairéad Filgate & Diego Lopez Francia In-Person Registration 11:00–11:30 ☕ Coffee / Tea Break (Media Lab) 11:00–13:00 Cooking with COHDS: Finding History in a Recipe With Eliana Hussain (Number of participants is limited) In-Person Registration 11:30–12:30 Roundtable: […]
Time The Sunroom The 4th Space 9:00–10:30 Panel Presentation: The Understanding Social Work Leadership in Canada Oral History Project In-Person Registration 10:30–11:00 ☕ Coffee / Tea Break (Media Lab) 11:00–12:00 Workshop: Oral History Needs a Body With Dona Nham In-Person Registration Roundtable: The Archive of the Future Hybrid Event Registration 12:00–12:30 12:30–13:00 🍴 BYOL […]