Who are our ancestors? Lessons from Animism

December 5, 2019 Admin

Photo by Łukasz Maźnica on UnsplashIn this high definition photo there is an old stone building that looks like a temple, which takes up most of the frame; the stone has moss, plants, and moisture discoloration. A dirt or sandy path leads to an open… — Photo by Łukasz Maźnica on Unsplash
In this high definition photo there is an old stone building that looks like a temple, which takes up most of the frame; the stone has moss, plants, and moisture discoloration. A dirt or sandy path leads to an opening in the building which is rectangular and opens to a very dark entrance you cannot see beyond. There seems to be no moving door. Covering this old structure are white and gray roots, it looks as if the roots come from the sky and cover most of the building before reaching the ground. The photo was taken in Cambodia.

Oral history has been a practice in academic spaces for a short time, but has existed in indigenous cultures and oral traditions for many, many years. Dr. Alexis Gumbs @alexispauline explores in she work topics such as: elders, listening, embodiment and even learning from marine mammals. Noor Alzamami takes a deeper look at the connections between animism and oral history in this post after reflecting on Dr. Alexis Gumbs presentation.

Newest Americans and Resurrecting Oral History from the “Chamber of Death”

December 3, 2019 Admin

During the second OHMA workshop, Newest Americans: Stories from the Global City, co-founder and director Tim Raphael presented an exciting possibility for the activation of oral history archives: collaborative multimedia and social media platforms. In this blog post, Thu Anh Le explores the unique nuances of this creative storytelling process with the reflection of her advocacy works in Vietnam, and contemplates further implication of oral history as a discipline that challenges our current understanding of academic legitimization and epistemology.

Who Has the Right to Tell a Story?

November 25, 2019 Admin

A black and white photograph of Downtown Manhattan taken from the Empire State Building. It was March 2018, a cloudy day in New York. The fog blurred the skyscrapers in the Financial District. There are no humans in this picture, just buildings.[1]

In this piece, current OHMA student Eleonora Anedda (2019-2020 cohort) wanders around the ethics of storytelling. Her post was inspired by Tim Raphael’s presentation on his ongoing project Newest Americans, and its multimedia oral history archive.

The Truth of the Apple

November 21, 2019 Admin

Intro: Stories of survival, hope, and love have helped shape the narratives of Holocaust survivors. But what happens when what we perceive to be the truth is actually a lie? In this post, current OHMA student, Elizabeth Jefimova, will discuss the role of truth and accountability in oral testimonies when faced with portions of narratives that are fabricated.

Decolonizing to Re-indigenize

November 14, 2019 Admin

Photo credit: Anahí NaranjoAn old home in a maize plantation outside of Guaranda, Ecuador. This is the home my mother grew up in. — Photo credit: Anahí Naranjo
An old home in a maize plantation outside of Guaranda, Ecuador. This is the home my mother grew up in.

Intro: Dr. Nēpia Mahuika’s September 26th workshop titled “Oral History and Indigenous Peoples: Rethinking Oral History, Methods, Politics and Theories” highlighted the intricate histories and traditions of indigenous communities that the academic field of oral history has begun to recognize. Dr., Mahuika is the author of soon to be published book Rethinking Oral History and Tradition from the Oxford University Press.

Earning the Privilege to Listen

November 7, 2019 Admin

Source: https://www.success.com/how-to-speak-well-and-listen-better/An illustration of two silhouettes, facing opposite directions, each with their own dialogue bubble. One silhouette is surrounded by a green background and the other is surrounded b… — **Source:** **https://www.success.com/how-to-speak-well-and-listen-better/**
An illustration of two silhouettes, facing opposite directions, each with their own dialogue bubble. One silhouette is surrounded by a green background and the other is surrounded by a red background.

On October 3, OHMA alumna Emma Courtland presented her thesis, Finding Fathers: A Cautionary Tale for Oral Historians, including audio that highlighted the ways in which her personal journey paralleled those of her narrators. In this post, current OHMA student, Jennie Morrison, considers what it means for oral historians to share pieces of themselves with their narrators, as well as how that shapes the listening process.

Grant Me Serenity: A Case Study on How Alcoholics Anonymous Influences Life-History Storytelling

November 4, 2019 Admin

My father’s ten-year AA chip. It is a round gold coin with the words, “To thine own self be true,” around the edge. Inside is a large triangle with one word on each side. The words are: unity, service, recovery. In the center of the chip is a large … — My father’s ten-year AA chip. It is a round gold coin with the words, “To thine own self be true,” around the edge. Inside is a large triangle with one word on each side. The words are: unity, service, recovery. In the center of the chip is a large X (Roman numeral 10).

Current OHMA student Lily Doron tries to understand how Alcoholics Anonymous, and 12-Step programs in general, train participants to reframe their life narratives in ways that promote healing, foster connection, and, hopefully, keep people sober. She brings these questions from OHMA’s workshop with Emma Courtland to an interview with her father, an alcoholic who is currently 12 years sober.

Impediments

October 24, 2019 Admin

Samantha Greenspan discusses the power of words, the value of listening, and issues of legibility and marginalized languages. This blog post was inspired by Dr. Nēpia Mahuika’s workshop “Oral History and Indigenous Peoples: Rethinking Oral History, Methods, Politics and Theories.”

We Speak the Same Language, We See through Different Tongues

October 20, 2019 Admin

Credit to Imgur: https://imgur.com/gallery/ocClUAn image from the film The Arrival of the written language of an alien group—one that exists based on symbols and functions with regard to past, present, and future simultaneously. It resembles a black… — *Credit to Imgur:* *https://imgur.com/gallery/ocClU*
An image from the film The Arrival of the written language of an alien group—one that exists based on symbols and functions with regard to past, present, and future simultaneously. It resembles a black inkblot that swirls into a circle.

Languages don’t just dictate who we talk to, they shape the way we think. Current Columbia College student Amanda Ong considers the how the languages we speak mold the way we learn to see and navigate the world, even when we are not speaking them.

The Journey of a Story

October 14, 2019 Admin

*Photograph of a woman standing in the middle of a group of trees. The sun is shining directly on her, making a glowing circle around her. Her face is turned up to look towards the light.*

Telling someone else’s story is a lot of responsibility. After collecting narratives, oral historians often have to decide how to make that story accessible to the public. In Dr. Tim Raphael’s recent workshop talk, he called this process “activating the archive.” In this post current OHMA student, Lauren Instenes, will discuss the complexities of this process by taking you on the journey of a story she previously attempted to “activate.”

The Most Unlikely Love Story

October 10, 2019 Admin

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Stories never stop being created, even in the most unlikely of places. Drawing on oral history testimonies from Auschwitz prisoners, filmmaker Michal Bukojemski, creator of The Auschwitz Chronicles, uncovers a most unlikely love story.

When the “Brick City” becomes the “New Jerusalem”

October 7, 2019 Admin

Photo Credits: City of NewarkImage Description: Cars whizz by in one of the most vibrant and active intersections in downtown Newark, NJ. — Photo Credits: City of Newark
Image Description: Cars whizz by in one of the most vibrant and active intersections in downtown Newark, NJ.

Newark, New Jersey isn’t just a place for looking back; it’s also for looking forward. Current Columbia College student Kyra Ann Dawkins wrestles with her expanding understanding of Newark beyond her family’s story and into the broken and beautiful narratives of the hyperdiverse city.

“[unintelligible]” : (thoughts on intralingual subtitling)

August 30, 2019 Admin

In this post, filmmaker and current OHMA student Storm Garner discusses the practice of subtitling accented or non-normative spoken English in documentary filmmaking and video presentations of oral history.

Announcing the 2019 Travel Grant Recipient

August 23, 2019 Admin

OHMA is pleased to the announce the 2019 Travel Grant Recipient, Carlin Zia (2017) who will consider questions around transcription and creativity at 2019 Oral History Association annual meeting in Salt Lake City.

Opportunities to Work with Oral History MA Students 2019-2020

July 1, 2019 Admin

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OHMA is excited to let you know about opportunities available this year to work with Columbia's Oral History MA Program students and invite you to participate in our fieldwork partners and internship programs. Please feel free to share this email with others who may be interested.

There are two different ways to work with our students:

Fieldwork Partner: we are seeking organizations or projects with which students can partner to conduct three interviews as part of their fall fieldwork course.

Fieldwork partners will be required to work with the student to create a brief project design, ensuring that their work will both serve the needs of their partner and fulfill their requirements for the course. The main expectation of partners is that they will connect students with narrators so that they can do three interview sessions in October and November, 2019. Students and fieldwork partners work together to negotiate any other deliverables, such as indexes or edited excerpts. Here is the syllabus from last year's class, so that you can see what we are asking of students and partners.

Internship host: OHMA students are able to undertake internships for credit. They may be involved in any phase of the oral history process, from designing a project to conducting interviews, processing an archive, or creating a public presentation using oral histories. Students will be expected to negotiate a work agreement with their sponsoring organization or project in advance, complete a certain number of hours of work (100-200, depending on how many credits they want), and reflect on their experience.

Internships can be for fall 2019, spring 2020, or summer 2020, and can even stretch over more than one semester. Especially in the summer, internships do not need to be based in NYC. Sponsoring organizations or projects will be expected to create a work plan, supervise, train, and mentor the interning student, and evaluate their work. Internships may be paid or unpaid, although it is preferable if students can be compensated. Here is our internship guide, which has more information on the program. Internships can also be open to alums and students can do an internship on a non-credit basis - in this case OHMA plays less of a role in supervising the internship.

Any given project or organization may elect to participate in one or both of these programs. We will be collecting a list of potential fieldwork partners and internship sponsors over the summer, which will be shared with interested students in August. Please be aware that there is a chance that you may be willing to host a student but we will not be able to place a student with you.

If you are interested in being a fieldwork partner, please fill out this survey by August 18th.
If you are interested in hosting an intern, please fill out this survey by August 18th.

Amy Starecheski, Director at the Oral History Master of Arts Program at Columbia University, will follow up in early August with those of you who are interested in working with our students. Please feel free to contact her if you have any questions.

Spring 2019 Student and Alumni News

June 18, 2019 Admin

As we wrap up the 2018-2019 school year, please join us in celebrating the news and accomplishments of our students and alums!

Lessons from the Belfast Project

May 24, 2019 Admin

Current OHMA student Anne Cardenas discusses Patrick Raden Keefe’s book, Say Nothing, and issues of security in oral history and journalism, inspired by Dr. Sam Redman’s April 4 workshop “Oral History and Archives: Voice, Storytelling, and Narrative in Historical Research.”

“Keeping Oral History Alive” —— Diversity in the Application of Oral History

May 16, 2019 Admin

In this post, based on Lorina Barker’s presentation, current Oral History MA student Lizzie Li discusses the diversity of oral history in real practice.

Indigenous scholar’s work informs new Columbia University + Wikipedia Initiatives

May 16, 2019 Admin

In this reflection on Dr. Lorina Barker’s recent lecture at OHMA, Wikipedia Fellow and Wikimedian-In-Residence Darold Cuba explores how scholars and academics can decolonize and indigenize public spaces through scholarship, exemplified by new wiki initiatives incubated at the Columbia University Libraries, WikiHMCi & WikiHBCU/DIO.

Times Square: It Shines Like Diamonds

May 16, 2019 Admin

Listen to the audio story below to hear how Times Square “shined like diamonds” to an immigrant seeing it for the first-time in the late 1940’s. OHMA student Christina Barba takes excerpts from oral histories to create an audio vignette about memory, culture and the joy of discovery in New York City.