SPOHP Director Dr. Paul Ortiz is teaching a course this spring on oral history! This interdisciplinary seminar is an intensive introduction to the theory and practice of oral history. Students […]


SPOHP Director Dr. Paul Ortiz is teaching a course this spring on oral history!


This interdisciplinary seminar is an intensive introduction to the

theory and practice of oral history. Students will have access to the

resources of the award-winning Samuel Proctor Oral History Program. We

will learn the craft of oral history interviewing and digital

production. We will study the burgeoning impact of oral history in human

rights and racial truth and reconciliation initiatives, social justice

documentaries, digital archives, public museums, other contexts. We will

cover a wide range of debates including the paradox of memory, the role

of nation, class, gender, genocide, and racial inequalities in shaping

memories. Students will be able to use the skills learned in this class

in order to become more effective interviewers, digital producers and

writers in various fields including history, journalism, film, radio, as

well as ethnography. Case studies will include oral history methods in

US, Latin American, European, and African histories and texts.