Fall 2019- Spring 2020
Oral History and Storytelling
Fall 2019- Spring 2020 | Oral History and Storytelling
Oral history could not exist without storytelling. Oral histories are always full of stories, often stories that have been handed down, passed around, honed through performance. And as we seek to amplify oral histories, the storytelling arts become crucial tools in the oral historian’s toolbox. Yet academic oral history has often defined itself in contrast to storytelling and to oral traditions.
In this series, we will explore the relationships between oral history and storytelling. As a practice that values life experiences that cannot be contained in tidy stories, what can oral history offer in a moment when storytelling is ubiquitous in the public sphere? How can a focus on storytelling illuminate the performative, creative, social, and cultural aspects of oral history that are not always prioritized in its practice?
FALL 2019
September 12, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Europe according to Auschwitz: Experiments from the Laboratory of Reportage
Marek Miller, Jacek Wasilewski, Michał Bukojemski
September 19, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Newest Americans: Stories from the Global City
Tim Raphael
September 26, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Oral History and Indigenous Peoples: Rethinking Oral History, Methods, Politics and Theories
Dr Nēpia Mahuika
October 3, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Finding Fathers: A Cautionary Tale for Oral Historians
Emma Courtland
October 24, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Standing With Sky Woman: A conversation on cultural fluency
Dr. Kahente Horn-Miller (Kanien:keha’ka/Mohawk)
November 7, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
"Necessary as Water": Queer Black Ceremony and the Depth of Listening
Alexis Pauline Gumbs
SPRING 2020 (more events to come)
February 6, 2020, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Art, Oral History, and New Approaches to Telling the “Story” of Institutionalization in Pennsylvania
Nicki Pombier Berger, Lisa Sonneborn
February 13, 2020, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
The Stories That Rise
Rachel Falcone, Storyline
April 2, 2020, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Oral history as told by AI
Stephanie Dinkins
April 9, 2020, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Deaf NYC Spaces and Stories
Brian H. Greenwald, Jean Lindquist Bergey
Fall 2018- Spring 2019
Oral History and the Future: Archives and Embodied Memory
Fall 2018- Spring 2019 | Oral History and the Future: Archives and Embodied Memory
Oral history is a conversation about the past that takes place in the present and is oriented towards the future. How is this future orientation made real?
Oral history as a research practice, particularly in the United States, has been defined by a focus on recording and archiving in institutional repositories. But people can be archives too, and oral history-telling practices more broadly often depend on embodied memory, on person-to-person transmission. And because people have been formally recording and archiving oral histories for over seventy years, we are now living in the futures imagined by earlier generations of oral historians. How do these voices from the past function in our present/their future? Looking at examples from digital archiving to indigenous oral history practices, in this series we will examine how the various ways that oral history is projected into the future work, and how they shape our practices as oral historians.
SPRING 2019
February 21, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Dancing with THE MISSING GENERATION: centering trans oral histories
Sean Dorsey
February 28, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
"The Sounds of Blackness: Space and Sound Preservation as Oral History Advocacy"
Nishani Frazier
March 7, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
The Mountain with Two Wives: Landscape and Embodied Memory in Kathmandu
Ellen Coon
March 14, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Say It Forward: Art and Social Justice
Voice of Witness
April 4, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Oral History and Archives: Voice, Storytelling, and Narrative in Historical Research
Samuel J. Redman
April 11, 2019, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
‘Chasing Our Mob in the Archives’: the restorative process of reclaiming, reconnecting, re-storying, and reframing family and cultural materials in the archives
Lorina Barker
FALL 2018
September 13, 2018, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Pan Dulce: Breaking Bread with the Past
Maria Cotera
October 4, 2018, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
The Uses of Narrative in Organizing for Social Justice
Sujatha Fernandes
October 18, 2018, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Confessions of an Accidental Oral Historian, Archivist, and Podcaster
Eric Marcus
November 1, 2018, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Accelerating Change: Oral History, Innovation, and Impact
Doug Boyd
November 29, 2018, 6:10 - 7:30 PM
Words Transmitted; Worlds Apart
Fernanda Espinosa
Spring 2018
Oral History and the Arts
Spring 2018 | Oral History and the Arts
Oral history is an art. The practice of oral history is creative -- in interviews we make narratives together with our interviewees, imagining worlds, telling stories, creating characters. Oral history can also be used to document the arts, to tell the stories of painters and dancers and actors and writers and the worlds they live in. And the arts are a powerful means to amplify and interpret oral histories, transforming them into literary narratives, building theater or music or dance performances from them, using them to create documentaries. This year, we will explore all of these many intersections of oral history and the arts, asking what unique contributions an oral history approach can make to artistic practice, and how oral history can help us to think about art and its role in the world.
January 25, 2018, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Jennifer Egan: The Novelist as Oral Historian
Jennifer Egan
February 1, 2018, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Writing and Listening for the Intersubjective Encounter
Nyssa Chow
February 15, 2018, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
The Robert Rauschenberg Oral History Project: An Oral and Art History Mash-up
Sara Sinclair and Mary Marshall Clark
March 8, 2018, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
How to Listen
Daniel Alarcón
March 29, 2018, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Performing Listening in the Context of Memorial Audio Walks
Luis Sotelo
April 5, 2018, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Push Play
Nicki Pombier Berger and Liza Zapol
Fall 2017
Oral History and the Arts
Fall 2017 | Oral History and the Arts
Oral history is an art. The practice of oral history is creative -- in interviews we make narratives together with our interviewees, imagining worlds, telling stories, creating characters. Oral history can also be used to document the arts, to tell the stories of painters and dancers and actors and writers and the worlds they live in. And the arts are a powerful means to amplify and interpret oral histories, transforming them into literary narratives, building theater or music or dance performances from them, using them to create documentaries. This year, we will explore all of these many intersections of oral history and the arts, asking what unique contributions an oral history approach can make to artistic practice, and how oral history can help us to think about art and its role in the world.
September 14, 2017, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Oral History As Engaged Community Listening, Ceremonial Practice and Performative Art
Mi'Jan Celie Tho-Biaz
September 21, 2017, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
Interviewing artists: intersubjectivity and visuality
Luisa Passerini
October 19, 2017, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
From Field to Performance: Adapting Oral History and Ethnographic Field Research for the Stage
E. Patrick Johnson
October 26, 2017, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
A History of Echoes-Part 1: Memory and Militant Sound Investigations
Robert Sember
November 2, 2017, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
A History of Echoes-Part 2: Sound of Trans Freedom
Michael Roberson
December 7, 2017, 6:00 - 7:30 PM
"Beyond words": oral tradition and the music of Julia Wolfe
Julia Wolfe
Spring 2017
Oral History and the Social Sciences
Spring 2017 | Oral History and the Social Sciences
Oral history is a practice with deep roots in the archive and in the discipline of history, where oral history is a unique and valuable genre of primary source. But what happens when we treat oral histories as data for sociological, anthropological or geographic research? Or use the tools of the social sciences to study oral history as a social practice? Is it possible, or desirable, to generalize from the particular and complex narratives of the oral history interview? In this series we will explore the tensions and possibilities at the interdisciplinary seams of oral history and the social sciences.
January 19, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
History-Making, Peoplehood, and the Right to the City
Amy Starecheski
February 9, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
The Summer for Respect: Student Activists, Walmart Workers, and the Future of the American Labor Movement
Adam Reich
February 23, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
How the Community Research Group Discovered Situation Analysis and What We Did About It
Mindy Fullilove
March 9, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Indigenous Oral Histories, Blurring Boundaries in Academia
Winona Wheeler
March 23, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Devalued Subjectivities: Disciplines, Voices and Publics
Leslie Robertson
April 6, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Becoming an Organizer: Narrative, Identity and Social Action
Terrell Frazier
Fall 2016
Oral History and the City
Fall 2016 | Oral History and the City
What can oral histories tell us about life at the scale of the city? About how people make their homes in neighborhoods, or think of themselves as urban citizens? How can the practice of oral history be used as an intervention in urban life? Taking New York City as a lab, this series will explore oral history in and of the city.
September 22, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Splicing into an Existing Narrative: Living Los Sures and Local Co-Creation
Christopher Allen
September 29, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
The Edge Becomes the Center: An Oral History of Gentrification in the 21st Century
DW Gibson
October 6, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Large-scale and Local: Engaging New York Public Library Communities in the Collection Process
Alexandra Kelly
October 20, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Intersection | Prospect Heights: Dialogue in the Supermarket
Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani
November 10, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
More Than a Riot: Listening to the Unheard Voices of Crown Heights
Zaheer Ali
December 1, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Below the Grid: Decolonizing the Silences, Fragments, and Shadows of Manhattan
John Kuo Wei Tchen
Spring 2016
Oral History and Public Dialogue
Spring 2016 | Oral History and Public Dialogue
February 4, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Creating the Urban Canvas: Land Art on a Brooklyn Street Corner
Laura Barnett and Alfred Evans
February 18, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Performance into Policy: Doing Justice by Oral Histories of Place and Displacement
Della Pollock and Hudson Vaughan
March 3, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Reckoning with 100 Years of Violence on the US/Mexico Border: Methods for Developing a Public Dialogue
Monica Muñoz Martinez
March 24, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Oral History in the Age of Black Lives Matter
Paul Ortiz
April 14, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Who Gets to Tell the Story?: A Fresh Approach to Collaborating with Activists to Create Archives
Wesley Hogan
April 21, 2016, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Big Prisons, Small Towns: Stories from the Prison Public Memory Project
Tracy Huling, Quintin Cross, and Brian Buckley
Fall 2015
Oral History and Public Dialogue
Fall 2015 | Oral History and Public Dialogue
September 24, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Roots and Fruits of Activism in Washington Heights and New York City
Laura Altschuler, Sixto Medina, and Rob Snyder
October 1, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project: Oral History, Radical Mapping and Displacement in San Francisco
Manissa Maharawal
October 8, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Oral History and Cross-Cultural Dialogues: Building Bridges with Artistic Projects
Judith Sloan
October 22, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
When Truth Is Justice: Narratives of Black Women and Sexual Assault Across Generations
Farah Tanis
November 12, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
This Muslim American Life
Moustafa Bayoumi
December 3, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
How You Sing Your Song: Miguel Zenón's Oral History-Based Music
Miguel Zenón with Erica Wrightson
Spring 2015
Oral History, Health and Medicine
Spring 2015 | Oral History, Health and Medicine
February 5, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
After Depression: Reflections on Oral and Written Personal Narrative as Archive of Feelings
Ann Cvetkovich
February 26, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Stories of Environmental Danger: A Collective Approach
Christopher Sellers
March 5, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Bodies, Embodiment, and the Experience of Passion: What Tango Dancers Can Teach Us
Kathy Davis
March 12, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Oral History with Vulnerable Populations: The Schizophrenia Oral History Project
Lynda Crane and Tracy McDonough
March 26, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Perpetual Handmaidens: Creating Knowledge in the Shadows
Ronald Doel
April 2, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Stories I Skipped: Narratives of Care, Narratives of War
Alessandro Portelli
April 16, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Listening With the Whole Body in Mind Feminist Oral History Project
Ynestra King
April 30, 2015, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Digital Storytelling as Narrative Shock: New Views on Young Parenting Latinas, Migration, and Family
Aline Gubrium and Elizabeth L. Krause
Fall 2014
Oral History, Health and Medicine
Fall 2014 | Oral History, Health and Medicine
September 11, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Oral History Meets Dementia: A Staged Reading of the Play Timothy and Mary
Sam Robson
September 18, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Seeking Witness: Voice of Witness and Building an Oral History Network
Luke Gerwe
October 2, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
A Radical Archive of Be(long)ing
Teiji Okamoto
October 16, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Narrative Humility: Medical Listening and Oral History
Sayantani DasGupta
November 6, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Can the Oral Historian Speak
Brian Purnell
November 13, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Oral History and Intellectual Disability: Navigating Authority, Authorship, and Advocacy
Nicki Berger
Fall 2013-Spr. 2014
Fall 2013 - Spring 2014
September 12, 2013, 6:00 -8:00 PM:
Personal Memories of War and Detention in Croatia from 1941 until Today: Making Private Experiences Public as a Means of Mobilizing Support and Developing Understanding
Darija Maric, Documenta
September 26, 2013, 6:30 -8:30 PM:
Listening to New Orleans
Daniel Wolff, Author
October 7, 2013, 6:30 -8:30 PM:
Our Harsh Logic: Israeli Soldiers’ Testimonies from the Occupied Territories 2000-2010
Avner Gvaryahu, Breaking the Silence
October 24, 2013, 6:30 -8:30 PM:
From Storytelling to Storyweaving: Muriel Miguel, A Retrospective
Muriel Miguel, Spiderwoman Theater
November 7, 2013, 6:30 -8:30 PM:
High Rise Stories
Audrey Petty, Voice of Witness
November 21, 2013 6:30-8:30
The Eros of Oral History
Jeff Friedman, Dancer, Choreographer and Professor of Dance Studies
February 6, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Listening to Central Park North: Making Oral Histories Tangible
Sewon Chung, New Media Artist and Oral Historian; OHMA alum
February 20, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Monastic Silence and a Visual Dialogue
Abbie Reese, Author
March 6, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Oral History at the Crossroads: Sharing Authority in Practice in Project-Based Research
Steven High, Concordia University’s Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling
March 27, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
De-centering Authority: Building a Collaborative Oral History of Mixed-Heritage Families in Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan, Brooklyn Historical Society
April 11 , 2014
Ann Cvetkovich and Luisa Passerini in Conversation
April 24, 2014, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Lost Neighborhood: Making Oral History Central in a Museum Exhibition
Catherine Charlebois, Montreal History Center
Fall 2012-Spr.2013
Fall 2013 - Spring 2014
September 18, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Throwing Stones at the Moon: Narratives from Colombians Displaced by Violence
Voice of Witness
October 4, 2012 7:00 - 9:00 PM,
“We’d Rather Not Be on the Rolls of Relief”: Folk Music as/and Oral History: Civic Engagement Through Songs, Documentary Photographs, and Voices from the Depression and New Deal
Michael Frisch and the 198 String Band
October 18, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Learning From the Old School: Oral History and Historical Production in New York City's Squatting Communities
Amy Starecheski
November 1, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Surfacing Solutions: Using Oral History to Find New Solutions to Intimate Violence
Alisa del Tufo
November 15, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Interviewing Interviewers about Interviewing: The Epistemology of Oral History
Andrea Dixon
December 6, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
The Newtown Creek Community Health and Harms Narrative Project: Oral History and Public Health
Suzanne Snider
January 31, 2013, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Surfacing Solutions: Using Oral History to Find New Solutions to Intimate Violence
Alisa del Tufo
February 14, 2013, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Search, Explore, Connect: Enhancing Access to Oral History
Doug Boyd
February 21, 2013, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Everybody is a Stranger When They First Arrive: Refugees’ Experiences in America.
Gabriele Stabile and Juliet Linderman, Voice of Witness
March 14, 2013, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Uncovering Hidden Histories: The Making of Antonia Pantoja: ¡Presente!
Lillian Jiménez
April 11, 2013, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Both Our Voices: A Feminist Relational Approach to Life History Narratives of Previously Juvenile Justice Involved LGBTQ Young Adults
Sarah Mountz
April 25, 2013, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Movement Creates Museum: the Activist Beginnings of Weeksville Heritage Center
Jennifer Scott