“Creating a Dark Space”: Listening to and Prioritizing Intuition

December 13, 2019 Admin

A screenshot from the 2001 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie scene in which Hermione says getting expelled would be worse than getting killed. Harry, a kid with black hair and round glasses, and Ron, a red-head, are looking off-camera as H… — A screenshot from the 2001 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie scene in which Hermione says getting expelled would be worse than getting killed. Harry, a kid with black hair and round glasses, and Ron, a red-head, are looking off-camera as Hermione storms away. Ron’s words are captioned: “She needs to sort out her priorities.” Photo credit: Warner Bros.

What do a 4 am wake-up time, the base of a pyramid, and the origin of a mathematical graph have in common? In Liu Chen’s post on the workshop led by Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, they reflect on priorities in oral history practices, intuition, and the value of darkness.

Jeremy Bentham’s Tape Recorder: Being As Useful As Possible In Oral History

December 5, 2019 Admin

A modified painting by Henry William Pickergill depicting Jeremy Bentham, a large, distinguished-looking white man with long hair sitting down in front of a black background. To the left of him is a photoshopped image of a small tape recorder, with … — A modified painting by Henry William Pickergill depicting Jeremy Bentham, a large, distinguished-looking white man with long hair sitting down in front of a black background. To the left of him is a photoshopped image of a small tape recorder, with some books placed behind.

Hi, I’m Zack Daniel Schiavetta, of the 2020 OHMA cohort, and for this blog post I’m writing about applying utilitarian ethics, which seeks to provide the maximum good for the greatest number of people, to oral history to make the field accessible to as many people as possible.

Oral History as Ceremony and Ceremony as Oral History

December 5, 2019 Admin

On October 24, Dr. Kahente Horn-Miller, of the Mohawk Nation, gave a powerful sharing about her ancestors, culture, and connection to the earth through monologue, song, and dance during the presentation of Standing with Sky Woman: A conversation on cultural fluency. In this post, current OHMA student, Francine D. Spang-Willis, considers the method of transferring Indigenous knowledge to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through storytelling as an oral history method. She also explores oral history as ceremony and ceremony as oral history.

Who are our ancestors? Lessons from Animism

December 5, 2019 Admin

Photo by Łukasz Maźnica on UnsplashIn this high definition photo there is an old stone building that looks like a temple, which takes up most of the frame; the stone has moss, plants, and moisture discoloration. A dirt or sandy path leads to an open… — Photo by Łukasz Maźnica on Unsplash
In this high definition photo there is an old stone building that looks like a temple, which takes up most of the frame; the stone has moss, plants, and moisture discoloration. A dirt or sandy path leads to an opening in the building which is rectangular and opens to a very dark entrance you cannot see beyond. There seems to be no moving door. Covering this old structure are white and gray roots, it looks as if the roots come from the sky and cover most of the building before reaching the ground. The photo was taken in Cambodia.

Oral history has been a practice in academic spaces for a short time, but has existed in indigenous cultures and oral traditions for many, many years. Dr. Alexis Gumbs @alexispauline explores in she work topics such as: elders, listening, embodiment and even learning from marine mammals. Noor Alzamami takes a deeper look at the connections between animism and oral history in this post after reflecting on Dr. Alexis Gumbs presentation.