Congratulations 2020 Research Grantees

March 15, 2021 Incite Institute at Columbia University

We are proud to announce that our 2020-2021 OHMA Research Grants have been awarded to current students Taylor Thompson (2020), Liú Chen (2019), and Jennie Morrison (2019). These students will be using the funding to compensate narrators and collaborators, develop websites, and process interviews. You will be able to hear more about their exciting work in upcoming blog posts.

Taylor Thompson is collecting and archiving the narratives of community care organizers in New York City towards a study in liberatory economic models and economic imaginations.The aim of the work is to preserve and promote stories of community care and mutual-aid. An important aspect of community care work and accountable scholarship is solidarity; this grant will help Taylor provide honorariums for her narrators' time and critical storytelling.

Liú (they/them) is currently living on occupied Lenape territory, also known as New York City, with their service dog, Desmond. They are working on their OHMA thesis about family storytelling and communication in East Asian American families, and also serve as an oral history intern at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture.

Jennie+Spring+2019.jpg — Jennie Morrison

Jennie Morrison will explore the intersections of oral history and social work approaches to listening and social change by facilitating an Oral History 101 training for social workers. Jennie is trained as a social worker, and is particularly passionate about working with children, youth, and families.

Crip Camp: INCLUSION AND STORYTELLING IN CREATING ROLE MODELS FOR CHANGE-MAKERS

January 11, 2021 Incite Institute at Columbia University

An image of an A-frame sign sitting on a New York City sidewalk. Black and white capital letter tiles spell out the message “CALL ME I STILL LOVE YOU.”

This fall brought a treasure trove of workshops that introduced us to oral history projects telling the histories of marginalized communities in their own words - from Rikers’ Island inmates to New York City’s Trans community. A new documentary seeks to do the same, directed by a collaborative team that partners subject with producer. OHMA student Lisa R. Cohen spoke to the team about their very special relationship.

Detroit: Looking from the Outside In

January 11, 2021 Incite Institute at Columbia University

A chaotic 12th Street in Detroit, MI, an interesting glimpse into the uprisings. At the curb beside bumper-to-bumper traffic, a truck load of soldiers gets ready to head into the city. In the foreground, a man walks from the truck, towards the camer…

Inspired by recent OHMA Workshops that explored personal experiences of how our “homes” change over time - Sara Sinclair and Suzanne Methot’s How We Go Home: Voices from Indigenous North America, and Sarita Daftary’s on the East New York Oral History Project and the Rikers Public Memory Project – Michael Giannetti decided to conduct a listening activity with his family about their memories of Detroit, the 1967 uprising, and their contemporary ideas of the city.

the transgender archive as a science fiction poem

January 9, 2021 Incite Institute at Columbia University

After Michelle O’Brien’s workshop on the NYC Trans Oral History Project, OHMA student and librarian Kae Bara Kratcha wondered whether the material needs of all trans people will ever be met well enough that all trans people who want to could spend most of their time learning and teaching their histories. To explore this question, Kae wrote and recorded a poem and created a video to accompany the recording.

Hindsight is 2020

December 31, 2020 Incite Institute at Columbia University

How I learned to stop worrying and love Zoom, live theatre, and talking on the telephone; and what they all taught me about in-person interviews. (Remember those?)

By: Casey Dooley

Teaching War to Children

December 29, 2020 Incite Institute at Columbia University

Elena Aguilar, an educator, shares a drawing, made by a Laotian boy, depicting his experience during the U.S. government’s secret bombing campaign of Laos. From 1964 to 1973, more than two million tons of bombs hit Laos causing countless villages an… — Elena Aguilar, an educator, shares a drawing, made by a Laotian boy, depicting his experience during the U.S. government’s secret bombing campaign of Laos. From 1964 to 1973, more than two million tons of bombs hit Laos causing countless villages and lives to be destroyed. [1]

How should educators navigate controversial issues like war in their lesson plans? Current OHMA student and veterans’ oral historian Elizabeth Jefimova offers a few tips for educators looking to incorporate the topic of war into their curriculum and how oral history methodology provides a unique solution in teaching war.

Testimony of the Body and The Experience of Becoming

December 29, 2020 Incite Institute at Columbia University

[ - a grid displays images of a body in motion - ]

Brandon Perdomo writes about testimony in relation to the body and response to social-scape by activation-of-voice in response to a presentation by both Sara Sinclair on her work on How We Go Home, and Suzanne Methot, who complements the piece with curriculum-building for Voice Of Witness.

Reach for the Moon or The Grass is Always Greener

December 21, 2020 Incite Institute at Columbia University

Separated by a white matte, two grayscale images depict tall grasses reaching into a bright cloudy sky (left) and a hand-sketched monkey hanging by one arm from a cliffside branch (right). Found natural objects like pine needles and seashells overla…

Two thought experiments emerged in response to Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s presentation at OHMA on November 12, 2020. They take the form of a diptych collage titled “Reach for the Moon or The Grass is Always Greener”.