OHMA Virtual Open House on Jan. 17, 2023
About this event
OHMA VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE
Information session
Virtually meet OHMA students and alums
Presentation by OHMA Alum: Harpal Singh
Mini-interviewing workshop, taught by OHMA Director Amy Starecheski
OHMA is the first program of its kind: a one-year interdisciplinary Master of Arts degree training students in oral history method and theory. Our graduates work in museums, historical societies, advocacy organizations, media, the arts, education, human rights, and development. OHMA is also excellent preparation for doctoral work in fields like anthropology, history, journalism, and American studies or professional degrees in law, education, or social work.
Jointly run by the Columbia Center for Oral History Research, one of the preeminent oral history centers in the world, and INCITE, a lively hub for interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences, OHMA connects students with the intellectual resources of a major research university, and with the intimate society of a small cohort of talented students.
During a year at OHMA, students learn the skills of digital audio and video production and editing, digital archiving, oral history project design and interviewing, and both historical and social science analysis. Working with an OHMA faculty member, each student is guided through the process of creating a thesis. Past projects have taken the form of academic and creative essays, film and audio documentaries, performances, exhibits, and multimedia websites. OHMA students also have access to elective courses taught anywhere within the University and exclusive oral history internship opportunities.
ALUM PRESENTATION
Harpal Singh is a 2021 OHMA alum. He now works as a professor at the School of Liberal Arts at the privately-run Chitkara University at Chandigarh in India where he teaches Histories and Memories to undergraduate students. He was the first Indian student in the OHMA program. He worked as a journalist for over three decades before coming to Columbia University. The focus of his master’s thesis and project is ‘1984: Sikh Genocide’.
1984: Sikh Genocide
Over the course of 3 days in 1984, more than 5,000 Sikhs were killed in India, more than half of them in India’s capital, New Delhi, in the most barbaric way.
Thirty-eight years later, the families of the victims are still struggling to secure justice and a life of dignity due to ongoing institutional apathy. This genocide was a watershed moment in the history of independent India. It normalised religious intolerance and harvesting of hate for political gain.
Harpal Singh is a victim and survivor of that pogrom. His thesis uses oral history to illuminate the current condition of the victims/survivors, mostly widows in their 70s and 80s. It also reflects on whether the violence was pre-planned, if the State was complicit, and what the victims/survivors need to have a life of dignity.
In this presentation, Harpal will share his experience of recording survivors’ stories and working at the intersection of journalism, human rights and oral history.
Prospective students are also welcome to meet with the OHMA director or virtually sit-in on one of our classes. Please send us an email (ohma@columbia.edu) to connect!
Image Description: An image of a black headphone sitting on a mic.
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