HIST 371
Oral History: Theory, Methods and Practice Fall 2017
Division II
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

Oral history offers a powerful means to document history “from the bottom up,” filling gaps in the historical record and creating ways to make new community connections. Using a variety of texts, including transcripts and recorded interviews, students will consider what oral history offers as a source of information; how oral history is produced and analyzed; legal, ethical, and methodological considerations; the impact of digital technologies on oral history; and the ways that memory, context, and identity shape the interview. The class will include a hands-on component and a group final project, giving students the chance to conduct, archive, use and present interviews. Interviews will be added to the Williams College Archives. The final project will focus on a topic related to local history such as the impact of industry and deindustrialization on northern Berkshire County. All students will be expected to complete several short research and writing assignments; travel off campus to conduct recorded interviews; submit written transcriptions; and participate in the final group project. Additional compulsory class sessions may be added for field trips and methods workshops.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 18
Expected: 12-15
Class#: 1505
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: 2 transcribed interviews, 2 short papers, participation, final group project; students must travel off campus to conduct two oral history interviews; interviews to be recorded, transcribed, and archived. Also short papers and final group project
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis; not available for the fifth course option
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: history majors, juniors
Distributions: Division II

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