Oral history is becoming a popular tool for classroom learning as it offers students the chance to connect with the past in hand-on and interconnected ways. Should you be interested in introducing oral history to your classroom or community group, below you will find different ways to do so and information on how COHDS can help you do so.
ORAL HISTORY RESOURCES
In addition to the guides you will find on our Working with Existing Interviews and Developing a Project pages, you can also find a list of further readings on our Other Resources page. This includes guides on the practice of oral history, as well as readings on feminist and decolonial methodologies.
AUDIO WALKS
Oral history walking tours are an amazing tool to get students engaged with the histories of a given neighbourhood or place. Many of our affiliates have mapped Montreal through living memory. You can explore our affiliate projects on our Audio Walks page.
RENTING EQUIPMENT
COHDS offers equipment loans to student and community affiliates looking to develop oral history projects. To find out more about renting equipment such as audio recorders for your students, visit our Borrowing Equipment page.
PLAN A CLASS/GROUP VISIT
For those interested in familiarizing themselves with our spaces and technologies available, COHDS offers both tours of our spaces as well as digital storytelling workshops.These workshops are meant to introduce students to archiving and interview practices and provide hands-on learning opportunities.
We have previously welcomed highschool students, CEGEP and university groups, as well as community groups. Please note that student cohorts do not have to be affiliated with a history department, as we welcome students and faculty from across disciplines.
Should you wish to bring your class to COHDS, please contact: cohds.chorn@concordia.ca
Oral historian and co-founder of COHDS Dr. Steven High is also able for class visits and workshops on oral history training and methodology. You can contact Dr. High at: steven.high@concordia.ca
Throughout the school year COHDS also offers a plethora of workshops for those who wish to learn more about research creation and oral history. Workshops are open to all and have included audio and video recording how-tos, interview conducting, ethics, queer oral history, archival practices, and more. You can stay up to date with upcoming workshops here.
Classroom Resources
Storytelling in the Classroom: A Path to Deeper Learning
COHDS has partnered with the Decolonial Perspectives and Practices Hub (DPPH) to provide tools to incorporate storytelling into the classroom. Bring oral histories into your classroom by integrating the DPPH educational videos covering diverse themes related to race and identity, addressing discrimination, institutional change, disability justice, intersectionality, anti-racism and more. The educational videos highlight the lived experiences of students, educators and community organizers.
Each video includes a course guide with tailored reflection exercises, discussion questions, recommended assignments and readings. These guides outline simple steps to facilitate meaningful student engagement and provide educators with the tools to make essential conversations on race, identity, and inclusion accessible, transformative, and impactful.