Oral history spring school

Course date(s):
25 Apr 2013 to 27 Apr 2013
Course tutor(s):
Professor Joanna Bornat
Professor Jenny Harding
Dr Graham Smith
Joel Morley
Fee:
£225
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Abstract
 The 2013 Spring School in Oral History will be held at the Institute of Historical Research, in association with the Oral History Society. The programme addresses six major areas: memory; emotion; representativeness and generalisability; analysing data; re-using archived interviews; outputs and impacts. The final day will include a discussion of teaching oral history in Higher Education.

Course details
 The first two days will focus upon six major themes, within oral history: memory; representativeness and generalizability; analysing data; emotion; re-use of interviews; and outputs and impacts.
We will start with memory: the first session will investigate current memory research in history, psychology and sociology and discuss the ways in which these findings can help us to understand and interpret oral sources. An enduring issue within oral history is the problem of generalisability and representativeness in oral history research. In part this is a question of scale, but it is also about representing the uniqueness of remembered lives while addressing issues of historical significance, of cutting across biography in order to make sense of a common past.
Moving on to analysing oral history data, we will consider different approaches which oral historians have turned to in making sense of their interviews. These will include thematic analysis, narrative analysis and the biographical interpretive method.

Emotions present a number of challenges for oral historians: in the creation, interpretation and reception of oral narratives. This session considers how recent scholarship in the humanities and social sciences may help to inform thinking about the implications of cultural /historical differences in the representation of emotion for oral history.
We move on to consider the re-use of one’s own or another researcher’s oral history interviews considering issues of context, interpretation and ethics, as well as the habitus of the original researcher
Finally we will explore the production of public outcomes from oral history research, including books, journal articles and exhibitions.

The third day of the Spring School will be in part devoted to best practice in teaching oral history. Our aim here is to share ideas about teaching oral history in Higher Education, including resources, course structures, and future developments.

Those enrolling in the course should have some prior experience in recording and writing oral history, and will be asked to complete readings in advance, available through a dedicated online website. The tutors for the course are all members of the Oral History Society and will be: Professor Joanna Bornat (Professor Emeritus, Open University), Professor Jenny Harding (London Metropolitan University), Dr Graham Smith (Royal Holloway, University of London), and Joel Morley (Queen Mary, University of London).

Programme
The programme is as follows:
25/04/13 Thursday, 09.30 - 17.00
• Memory and Remembering
• Representativeness and Generalisability
• Analysing the data: drawing out evidence
• Oral History Surgery: your challenges?
26/04/13 Friday, 10.00 - 17.00
• Emotion
• Re-use: issues from the Secondary Analysis of archived interviews
• Outcomes and Impacts
• Open discussion
27/04/13 Saturday, 10.00 - 16.00
• Teaching oral history: strategies for the future
• Oral history in museums: Museum of London (provisional: tbc)

The spring school is organised by the Institute of Historical Research and is open to all who are interested in using oral history. Numbers are strictly limited and early application is recommended.