Filip Mazurczak (2017)

Filip Mazurczak holds a BA in Spanish and Hispanic Studies and History from Creighton University as well as an MA in International Affairs from the George Washington University. Since graduating, he has worked as a journalist, Polish-to-English translator (of academic publications and of fiction), and English teacher. Many of his nearly 150 published articles have dealt with historical topics. 

Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in history at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. His academic articles have been published or accepted for publication in the Oral History Review, Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, and Konteksty Kultury.

Elly Kalfus (2017)

I am a penal abolitionist, an improviser, and a fan of jellyfish. I grew up in the Bronx, went to the Bronx High School of Science and then Brandeis University, graduating with a bachelor of arts in English in 2013. Since then I have considered Massachusetts my home, where I have found amazing community and radical organizing.

I have worked to challenge the prison industrial complex for many years, investigating cases of wrongful conviction with the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and the Committee for Public Counsel Services' Innocence Program, and evaluating states' indigent defense systems with the Sixth Amendment Center.

I seek to end reliance on the carceral state by calling attention to the widespread harm it causes all of us and the specific harm it causes imprisoned people and the communities they are stolen from. I want to create storytelling projects in collaboration with people directly affected by the carceral state, and wish to situate my work within the context of oral history and narrative storytelling for social change.  Most recently I have been exploring Massachusetts' history of taking voting rights away from incarcerated people, and the creative resistance incarcerated people have mounted in opposition. I am inspired by the risk-taking, intelligence and organizing of incarcerated people across the world.

Jeffrey Brodsky (2008)

For his thesis, Jeffrey Brodsky conducted more than 60 hours of oral history interviews, in which politicians recount their first political races. Read transcripts and watch video clips in the Washington Post. You can also listen to NPR interview Mr. Brodsky about the project.

Continuing his thesis research on the international front, Mr. Brodsky has interviewed a dozen world leaders about their formative political experiences and campaign memories. Among those Brodsky has interviewed include Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prime Minister of Spain Jose Maria Aznar, President Alejandro Toledo of Peru, Prime Minister Wim Kok of the Netherlands, President Mary Robinson of Ireland, President Jorge Sampaio of Portugal, Prime Minister of Norway Kjell Bondevik, Prime Minister of New Zealand Jenny Shipley, President of Panama Martin Torrijos, President of Colombia Andres Pastrana, and Gerry Adams of Northern Ireland.

In 2012, Chief Executive magazine commissioned Brodsky to interview chief executive officers on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). These CEOs included James Turley of Ernst & Young, Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Company, David Novak of Yum Brands, and former Chrysler and Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli.

As an oral historian, Brodsky has conducted a series of extensive interviews with Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Kann, the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal and CEO of Dow Jones. He has also recorded oral histories with television news veterans Sam Donaldson of ABC and Bob Schieffer of CBS.

Prior to studying at Columbia, Mr. Brodsky received a BA in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis.

Elyse Blennerhassett (2016)

Elyse Blennerhassett is a freelance audio (radio + podcast) and film producer and sound artist for interactive media and immersive exhibitions. Her work (solo and collaborative) have been published with The BBC World Service + Sundance, The Marshall Project, Brooklyn Deep, The Atlantic, NPR, and The Invisible Institute. She has worked on films and exhibitions that have been been featured at festivals and galleries nationally and internationally. As a freelancer, she collaborates with podcast and multimedia producers, investigative journalists, and filmmakers. Clients include: PEN America, The New York Times R&D Lab, and various NGOs, nonprofit organizations, and academic / arts institutions. She was a UnionDocs Collaborative fellow 2018-2019.

Jonathon Fairhead (2015)

Read Jonathon’s bio here.

Yutong Wang (2016)

Yutong Wang is an international student from Shenzhen, China, who graduated from the Ohio State University in 2015.

Her project this year in OHMA is about recent Chinese students who study in America. By interviewing these students, she hopes to help them tell their stories of studying and living abroad. 

Meghan Valdes (2015)

Meghan Valdes is a New Jersey native, recently graduating summa cum laude from Rutgers University where she obtained her B.A. in history - and discovered her passion for oral history. Working at the Rutgers Oral History Archives, she has conducted interviews with World War II veterans and transcribed interviews for the ACLU Oral History Project, which seeks to document the changes in the American Civil Liberties Union in the post-9/11 landscape. She comes to OHMA straight off of an internship at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, where she served as the memorial exhibition intern for the museum’s In Memoriam exhibition, which honors victims through photographs, biographies, and audio remembrances. Her interests include jazz, travel, diners, and listening to jazz at diners she’s traveled to.

Leonard Cox (2014)

Leonard Cox is a corporate communications professional with 36 years of experience in the field. He is currently the Assistant Vice President of Communications for the Facilities and Campus Operations division of Columbia University in New York City. Prior to joining Columbia, Cox worked as a partner at the Michael Cohen Group, LLC, where he managed the firm’s corporate communications and media entertainment practice areas.

During his 14 years working with Michael Cohen, Cox developed and managed large-scale communication campaigns as well as managed audience development initiatives for the firm’s television clients.  Prior to the Michael Cohen Group, Cox was Director of Corporate Communications at the National Broadcast Company (NBC). In this capacity, Cox managed the network’s internal communication initiatives and directed several public and governmental affairs campaigns. In addition, he served as a producer at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Before moving to New York City in 1987, Cox served as the Assistant Press Secretary to Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor. Cox is passionate about documentary filmmaking. His film, THE KILLER WITHIN, was nominated for an EMMY for best documentary. His documentary, QUESTIONING FAITH, was broadcast on HBO/CINEMAX and was ranked among the top 10 influential films of 2002. His short film, FRIENDS IN DEED, won a TELLY Award. Cox has been nominated for two additional EMMY Awards.

Cox received Purdue's 2004 College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumni Award and the Gold Medal for creativity from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Cox is celebrating his 28th year as a volunteer at the Dwelling Place, a shelter for homeless women located in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. Cox is a past member of the Advisory Board for the Brian Lamb School of Communications at Purdue University. He has served on the Board for Columbia University’s Community Service initiative, is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Dwelling Place, and is a past member of the Auburn Media Project’s Board of Advisors.

Rachel Unkovic (2016)

Rachel Unkovic holds a Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation from SIT Graduate Institute, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Trinity College. She has worked for the International Rescue Committee in the field of humanitarian aid since 2009, based in DR Congo and Iraq, and with extended travel to ten other countries in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Rachel’s research interests include oral history in active conflict areas—oral history as a means to create space for refugees/conflict-affected people to gain more control over their own narrative and the story that is told—and interviewing to capture the effects of humanitarian aid.

Robin Miniter (2016)

Robin Miniter (2016) is a podcast producer at National Geographic.

While at OHMA, Robin gathered oral histories in Hot Springs, North Carolina. From this collection came works including the concept album, "God Forged in Fire & Flood: An Oral History of an Appalachian Geography," "Just Go Ahead and Lay Me Down," an audio-ethnography about folklore and funerary traditions in the Western North Carolinian Mountains, and an on-going community oral history project that is currently being archived with the Madison County Public Library (N.C.) and StoryCorps. She's chased stories from subterranean dance caves in Arkansas to the women's rugby fields of India. She continues to seek stories and spiritual geographies as she goes.

Robin is a Spring 2018 graduate of the Transom Story Workshop in Woods Hole, Ma. She's finally learning how to take care of plants, fix bikes, and find roots in Washington, D.C.

Robin Weinberg (2016)

Robin Weinberg started a nonprofit oral history project and wellness program in 2007 called Just So You Know, which gives people living with serious illness the chance to create, share, and preserve their own life stories through recorded video conversations and interviews with their family, friends, and favorite people. Just So You Know travels to hospitals and health care organizations nationwide, sets up “recording studios” and advises and helps people get their life stories told on video.  

Robin is looking forward to expanding the organization to include other populations of people with compelling stories to tell, and learning to use oral history for advocacy and education. She is particularly interested in personal narratives, but would love to interview on other topics, including civil rights, discrimination, women’s issues, and gun violence prevention.

Robin is a (recovering) attorney, specializing in employment law, with a J.D. from the New York University School of Law and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.  A New Yorker at heart, she lives in Connecticut with her three daughters, two dogs (also girls), two guinea pigs (girls, too!) and husband.

Shira Hudson (2016)

Shira Hudson is the Associate Director of planned giving at UJA-Federation, where she works with individuals to fulfill their financial and philanthropic goals. The most compelling part of her work involves meeting with donors and learning about their lives, values, and hopes for the next generation.

Shira is excited to begin the study of oral history and further develop her skills as a relationship builder and story collector. She graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures, and from the Jewish Theological Seminary with a B.A. in Jewish History. Shira lives on the Upper West Side and enjoys exploring the City’s playgrounds with her husband and toddler.  

Rozanne Gooding-Silverwood (2015)

Rozanne Gooding Silverwood graduated from the Columbia University School of General Studies, receiving her undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology at the age of 63. Her thesis “The Indigenous Uncanny: An Ethnography of Erasure and the Resurgence of Chickasaw Identity” examines genealogical artefacts evidencing her Chickasaw ancestors’ efforts to preserve indigenous identity in the face of territorial and cultural erasure. During her graduate studies at Columbia University’s Oral History Master of Arts program (OHMA), Ms. Gooding Silverwood recorded family members’ narratives about death and bereavement. Putting these deeply personal memories into conversation with archival photographs and mementos, Ms. Gooding Silverwood produced an audio-visual project “I’ll Fly Away: A Genealogy of Maternal Love and Leave-taking” that demonstrates the usefulness of oral history in helping family members make meaning from the loss of loved ones while also serving as a tool for the preservation of traditional knowledge and collective memory for future generations.

Ursula Cedillo-Johnson (2016)

Ursula Cedillo-Johnson is a second-generation storyteller and a Third-Generation-Mexican-Black-American who revels in her intricately hyphenated identity. She hails from Prairie View, Texas, and will graduate from Barnard College in spring 2016. While working towards a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, she comes to OHMA seeking to expand and challenge her ethnographic background.

When not pondering the intricacies and ethics of the social media era, she spends much of her free time collaborating on film and music projects by alternative artists of color, seeking to problematize and decolonize the audio-visual landscapes of contemporary pop culture. Her research interests encompass this political project. Through OHMA, she hopes to gain the tools to not only empower alternative narratives, but to popularize and project them through digital media.

Emma Li (2016)

Xiaoyan (Emma) Li: Before I began learning about oral history, my interest had always been in literature. While working at the Cui Yongyuan Center for Oral History at Communication University of China—which owns 800,000 minutes video of interviews and relevant documents—for over two years, I gradually realized that I enjoy listening to people tell their life stories.
 
Last year, I took part in the "Oral History in China Project," which involved interviewing well-known oral historians, in addition to organizing academic lectures, workshops, and an international conference. Through this process, I had the chance to exchange perspectives with a great number of oral historians from all over the world, which made me excited to learn more about oral history in OHMA.  

Fanny Garcia (2016)

Fanny Julissa García is an oral historian contributing work to Central American Studies. In her most recent work, Reminiscences on Migration: A Central American Lyric, she intertwines her own migration story using lyric poetry and vignettes with oral history interviews conducted with Central American refugee women who had been released from detention centers at the U.S./Mexico border. She has worked for more than 15 years as a social justice advocate to combat the public health and socioeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS on low income communities, worked closely with organizations fighting for the end of family detention, and supported survivors of sexual violence. She serves as the Communications Coordinator for Groundswell: Oral History for Social Change, a network of oral historians, activists, cultural workers, community organizers and documentary artists that use oral history to further movement building and transformative social change. She also works at the New-York Historical Society, and is co-founder of Social Exchange Institute, a media and education company that uses multi-media tools to produce work that promotes social justice and equity. She’s also on the editorial board for the Oral History Association’s Oral History Review. In 2017, she graduated from the Oral History Master of Arts program from Columbia University where she received the Judge Jack B. Weinstein Scholarship Award for Oral History and the OHMA Oral History Teaching and Social Justice Award.

Emma Courtland (2016)

Emma Courtland has worked as a writer, editor, film programmer, and exhibitions curator for periodicals and nonprofits in her native city, Los Angeles. The bulk of her professional efforts, however, has been on behalf the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she spent the last seven years collaborating to devise and execute a full slate of public programs focused on the vast and ever-changing intersections of storytelling and technology. She is especially interested in cultural form and narrative cognition, and how our modes of sharing stories—written or spoken words, still or moving images—shape our understanding of and interactions with the world.

Emma holds a BA in English from UCLA and a MA in oral history from Columbia. She currently serves as the associate producer of content at Wondery, the podcast company behind Dirty John and Doctor Death.

Dina Asfaha (2016)

Dina M. Asfaha joins OHMA from Barnard College, where she was an Africana Studies major and recipient of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. Her time in the Mellon program was incredibly formative, inspiring her to pursue her passion of using academia as a platform to celebrate and commemorate Eritrean revolutionary history.

In her senior year, Dina conducted an honors thesis entitled, “From Repression to Revolution: Making Space for Eritrea,” wherein she analyzed three documents written by Eritrean pro-liberation groups as creative responses to Ethiopian colonial domination. This year in OHMA, she hopes to expand on her work by examining music and sounds of the Eritrean revolution.

Dina’s research interests include: memory studies, decolonization, post-/colonial studies, music-culture, cultural preservation, nationalism, and identity. In her free time, Dina enjoys attending concerts and practicing her digital and film photography skills.

Wu Chen (2015)

Wu Chen is a Chinese student. She earned her B.A degree in International Politics and History from Nottingham University in China and is a recent graduate of Melbourne University, with a degree in psychology. After graduation, she interned in a historical documentary project, where she interviewed and recorded the stories of survivors from the Great Famine, Cultural Revolution, and Sino-Japanese War. From this experience, she became interested in exploring historical trauma, from the perspective of victims of war, survivors of genocide, refugees, asylum-seekers, and ethnic minorities. She hopes to study trauma from cultural, sociopolitical, and clinical perspectives, alongside the systematic study of oral history, in order to produce written records of historical witnesses and explore the impact of narration and remembrance in measures of resilience and strength.

Nyssa Chow (2015)

Nyssa Chow is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program, and a recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Award, the Women in Film and Television Fellowship, the Toms Fellowship, and the Academy of Motion Pictures Foundation Award. She has worked as a photojournalist and in broadcast journalism. Nyssa has served as the Chief Editor of Generation Lion Magazine with circulation throughout the Caribbean, New York, and Miami. She is the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Sloan Foundation Grant, and in fulfillment of the grant, produced a feature length web-series. In 2014, she won the Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in Screenwriting. Most recently, Nyssa has been one of five writers nominated for the Blue List, and invited to appear in the Hollywood Black List database. Born in Trinidad, she has a particular interest in social justice, trust, and political participation.