As part of his Oral History master's thesis, Jeff Brodsky interviewed US Senator Ron Wyden about Wyden's first campaign for Congress in 1980.

As part of his Oral History master's thesis, Jeff Brodsky interviewed US Senator Ron Wyden about Wyden's first campaign for Congress in 1980.

Announced in November of 2015, the Jeffrey H. Brodsky Oral History Award is given to one student annually whose thesis makes an important contribution to knowledge and most exemplifies the rigor, creativity, and ethical integrity that OHMA teaches its students. The $3000 cash award is supported by a generous donation from OHMA alumnus Jeffrey Brodsky.

For his thesis, Mr. Brodsky conducted more than 60 hours of oral history interviews, in which politicians recount their first political races.  The project was featured in the Washington Post and on NPR, where you can listen to an interview Mr. Brodsky about the project. Since graduating from OHMA, Mr. Brosky has continued to expand upon his thesis research by interviewing leaders abroad. Mr. Brodsky has interviewed a dozen world leaders about their formative political experiences and campaign memories, including Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar, President Alejandro Toledo of Peru, among many others. In addition, he has conducted interviews with CEOs on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange and with famed news veterans Peter Kann (Wall Street Journal), Sam Donaldson (ABC), and Bob Schieffer (CBS).

Jeffrey Brodsky’s thesis and more recent oral history work exemplify the rigorous intellectual values and creative skills that OHMA teaches to its students.  The Jeffrey H. Brodsky Oral History Award will continue to pass on those values as it awards students for innovative and outstanding research.

 

Winners

2017

Winner: Nyssa Chow, Intersecting Histories: The Story of Her Skin

Runner-up:  Ellen Coon, Dil Maya Aji: Narratives of a Traditional Newar Midwife

2016

Winner: Benji de la Piedra, “That Something Else’’: Botkin, Portelli and Ellison on Democratic Pluralism and the Dialogical Encounter