2011 Oral History Society Annual Conference: 1-2 July, 2011, at the University of Sunderland
4 September 2010
Call for Papers – 2011 OHS Annual Conference. Oral History and Regeneration.
Creation, Destruction, Memory: Oral History and Regeneration
2011 Oral History Society Annual Conference: 1-2 July, 2011, at the University of Sunderland
Oral history’s contribution to ‘regeneration’ has been wide ranging. On the one hand it has been used as a tool to encourage or improve community engagement and participation. On the other, it has been a tool to inspire pride in a local area or to reaffirm or create cultural identity. However, oral history’s role has, so far, been ill-defined and remains unexplored both in theory and in practice. To what extent, for example, can oral history be the critical voice of regeneration as well as the nostalgic voice of the past? Can the use of oral history make regeneration more sustainable? What part does oral history play in creating sustainable communities? To what extent should oral history and oral historians work together alongside developers and architects?
This international conference will bring together oral historians, academics, community workers, architects, planners, politicians and local residents to explore the uses and roles of oral history in urban and rural regeneration, covering the built environment as well the less tangible regeneration of landscapes and communities.
The conference will not seek simply to document the various roles oral history has played in the regeneration process but will equally explore its unrecorded and potential contribution.
Key themes:
Oral history to inform regeneration: The contribution of oral history to the process of physical/community and rural/urban regeneration; the use of oral history by planners/architects; the roles of and relationship between consultation and oral history; the role of the oral historian in the process.
Oral history as part of regeneration: As a mechanism to inform and create the future and preserve and create the past; regeneration through reclaiming and reinterpretation; reclaiming or creating cultural change; and enabling understanding between cultures and generations.
Oral history to reflect and evaluate regeneration: Lives and voices of the displaced, those who have been “regenerated”, as well as those working in regeneration; assessing gains and losses and perceived successes and failures; critiquing regeneration by listening to those whose communities have been “regenerated”
Oral history and regeneration: Linking the past, present, and future; continuity and discontinuity; talking about the future.
Proposals are invited of 200-250 words that address one of the four major themes of the conference for talks or presentations of approximately 20 minutes. We are particularly keen to encourage papers from: planners, architects, community workers, local residents and others directly involved in regeneration.
Proposals should clearly state how oral history as informed the project/work/research described, and how it will be used in the presentation.Please send to Belinda Waterman, conference administrator, e-mail:
Belinda@essex.ac.uk
by Monday, 29 November 2010.
Number of Visits: 7416
Share
The latest
- 100 Questions/48
- The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 48
- Seventh Theory: The evolutionary duality of document and narrative
- Memories of Davoud Molaei
- Preparing a report for Khorasan Radio and Television
- 100 Questions/47
- The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 47
- Servants Narration of the Religious Rituals of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (AS) From Tradition to Lived Experience
Most visited
- 100 Questions/46
- Servants Narration of the Religious Rituals of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (AS) From Tradition to Lived Experience
- Memories of Nasrollah Fat’hian
- Memories of Hossein Ali Najafian
- The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 47
- 100 Questions/47
- Preparing a report for Khorasan Radio and Television
- Memories of Davoud Molaei
100 Questions / 43
How can narrators and interviewers reach a common understanding?We asked several researchers and activists in the field of oral history to express their views on oral history questions. The names of each participant are listed at the beginning of their answers, and the text of all answers will be published on this portal by the end of the week.
Documentary Pathology of the US Embassy Documents
The Necessity of Scientific Rereading and Content Analysis of DocumentsMore than four decades have passed since the publication of the first collections of documents from the US Embassy in Tehran. However, despite the relatively easy access to this treasure trove of documents, systematic research exploitation of it has not been adequate. We still do not have a “comprehensive picture” of the content of these 11,000 documents.
100 Questions / 42
What is the importance of the narrator and interviewers shared understanding of the past in oral history?We asked several researchers and activists in the field of oral history to express their views on oral history questions. The names of each participant are listed at the beginning of their answers, and the text of all the answers will be published on this portal by the end of the week.
Validation: Challenges and Necessities
Where does truth stand in oral history? How can the correctness of a narrative be recognized? Does fact-checking matter? If there is exaggeration in the reporting of some accounts, how can it be detected? Is it possible to record an event accurately through the recording of a narrative? Readers and users of oral history works are often faced with these questions, and sometimes encounter doubts about some oral history works.
