FALL 2023 | Experiments in Oral History Methodology

Oral history as a research tool has been at times almost synonymous with a certain kind of interviewing: one-on-one, biographical, long-form, recorded, and intended for the archive. 

In this series of events, we will explore other approaches to doing oral history, from using scuba diving to record the stories of underwater landscapes to creating chatbots to elicit oral histories and using AI to make sense of how interviews work.

Events will take placee on Thursday evenings (ET) from 6-7:30PM, and where possible each event will include a hands-on experience or interactive space to try out and reflect on these new approaches.

September 21, 2023, 6-7:30pm

Can AI Collect Oral Histories? Probing a Community-Based Conversational Storytelling Agent to Document Digital Stories of Housing Insecurity

ONLINE with Brett Halperin
This event explores the grassroots Anti-Eviction Mapping Project and the intersections between oral history, social change, and technology.

October 5, 2023, 6-7:30pm

Using AI to Analyze and Organize Oral History

ONLINE with Chris Pandza ('23)
Join us for an exploration into how artificial intelligence can be used by oral historians to present and analyze information.

November 2, 2023, 6-7:30pm

History is not Past - Using Oral History for Policy Change

In-person with Danita Mason-Hogans
Join us for an exploration into how artificial intelligence can be used by oral historians to present and analyze information.

November 16, 2023, 6-7:30pm

The land that sustains us is the land of the ancestors

ONLINE with Kristina Douglass
In this discussion, we will explore how the integration of archaeology, historical ecology and oral history can serve Vezo communities.