oral history

 

historiography graduate seminar series

 

 

Some of the regular participants in the historiography seminar. [26/11/08]
For the spring semester 2009 schedule go here.

 

spring semester 2010

 

 

A seminar series convened by Dr. Elaine Sisson and Dr. Lisa Godson examining the kinds of challenges presented by historical researches rooted in attending to cultural practice within broadly interdisciplinary enquiries. Contact elaine.sisson(at)iadt.ie and godsonl(at)ncad.ie

 

 

about oral history graduate seminar

 

"Oral stories are not always fully reliable in point of fact. Rather than being a weakness, this is, however, their strength: errors, inventions and myths lead us through and beyond facts to their meanings."
Alessandro Portelli. (1990) The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History (New York: SUNY Press 1990)

This is a development from the Gradcam 2008/2009 Historiography Seminar. In it we will explore the methods, practices and theories of oral history. It will include workshops on interviewing techniques, site visits and seminars. Oral history has been largely important in recording the experiences of people and communities who might otherwise be hidden from history. While this is one aspect of what we will explore, within this seminar oral history will be treated less as a positivist method for gathering information but as a practice that gives invaluable insight into the construction of historical consciousness itself. For last semester's work see Autumn 2009 schedule.

We would strongly recommend that participants purchase a copy of The Oral History Reader (1998) Routledge Ed. Robert Perks, Alistair Thomson (2nd edn 2006)

 

  • 20/01/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

  • 27/01/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

    The visual artist Sean Lynch will be visiting Gradcam to talk about his work. Sean's photographs, installations and publications are concerned with understandings and representations of history; he is currently showing at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery. Sean will be talking about his work and his approach to and use of history - as a visual arts practitioner and in terms of documentation and methodology I think he will be of interest for researchers. Please try and visit Sean's exhibition at the Kevin Kavanagh gallery in advance of his visit so that you're familiar with his current practice. While this visit is a co-event between the Performance and Oral History Seminars all are welcome.

     

  • 03/02/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

  • 24/02/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

  • 10/03/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

  • 31/03/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

  • 14/04/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

    Clare Bell presents a short film documenting research on aspects of typography and the Irish language.

     


    Image courtesy of Clare Bell [2010]


    Image courtesy of Clare Bell [2010]

     

  • 28/04/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

  • 12/05/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

  • 26/05/10 Wed 14:00-16:00

     

 

supplementary reading

 

Jeffrey Barash (1997) “The Sources of Memory” Journal of the History of Ideas. Vol 58. No. 4 (Oct): 707-17 (pdf)
Beiner, Guy. (2000) "Negotiations of Memory: Rethinking 1798 Commemoration". The Irish Review, Volume 26, Number 1, Autumn: 60-70(11)
Beiner, Guy. (2006) Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Blatti, Jo. (1990) “Public History and Oral History” The Journal of American History Vol. 77, No. 2 (Sept), pp. 615-625 (pdf)
Peter Burke. (2003) “Images as Evidence in seventeenth Century Europe.” Journal of the History of Ideas. Vol 64. No. 2: 273-296 (pdf)
Dolan, Anne. Commemorating the Irish Civil War: History and Memory 1923-2000 (Cambridge)
Markey, Anne, (2006) "The Discovery of Irish Folklore." New Hibernia Review - Volume 10, Number 4, Geimhreadh/Winter: 21-43
Ó Súilleabháin, Sean. (1942) A Handbook of Irish Folkore (Folklore Society of Ireland: Dublin)
Samuel, Raphael. Theatres of Memory
Thomson, E.P. The Making of the English Working Class
Tonkin, Elizabeth, (1992) Narrating Our Pasts: The Social Construction of Oral History, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Andrea Fontana The Interview from Formal to Postmodern. Left Coast Press, 2007 (2006) The Oral History Reader
Barbara Sommer. The Oral History Manual.
Rosenzweig, Roy. (2006) "Can History be Open Source: Wikipedia and the Future of the Past." Journal of American History. Vol. 93. No.1 June (not open source)

 

website sources

 

British Oral History Society

 

For additional information on the collaborating institutions consult www.dit.ie, www.ncad.ie, www.iadt.ie and www.ulster.ac.uk.