Studying at York
Oral History Methods - HIS00108M
- Department: History
- Credit value: 10 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
Module summary
The module provides students with an introduction to oral history concepts and methods. Students will learn about some of the different ways in which oral history research has been conducted, and about of the unique possibilities and challenges which it presents. The course will address both philosophical and practical concerns that arise from research that draws upon oral history. Students will learn how to plan, conduct, transcribe, and curate oral history interviews, and about the issues associated with ethics and data protection; they will also consider how different interviewing techniques might produce different kinds of data. They will learn how oral history is, and might be used within the context of both academic and public history.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
The module aims to:
- Introduce students to oral history methods
- Build understanding of the theory and historiography of oral history
- Show students how to plan, conduct, and describe interviews
- Develop familiarity with the ethical issues involved in oral history
- Facilitate students’ ability to use oral history methods in their own research
Module learning outcomes
At the end of this module students will be able to:
- Recognize the range of methodological issues that arise from oral history
- Understand the ways that different historians have used oral history methods
- Know best practice in organizing oral history research
- Accurately transcribe speech and interpret its significance
- Plan their own research using oral history methods
Module content
Teaching Programme:
Students will attend a 2-hour seminar, two 4-hour workshops and a mini-conference in the spring term
The provisional programme is as follows:
Week 1: Briefing (1 hour)
Week 2: Context/theory seminar: Oral history and historical memory (2 hours)
Week 3: Practical workshop I: Creating and curating oral histories (4 hours)
Week 4: Practical workshop II: Using (and abusing) oral histories (4 hours)
Weeks 5-8: Independent project work
Week 8: Project Mini-Conference (3 hours)
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| University - project | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Students will submit a project portfolio in week 10 of the spring term for summative assessment, comprising of a short transcript and a 1000-word reflective essay.
Students will produce a short transcript of an oral history interview, to the format and standards required for publication. In a reflective essay, they will then explain how they selected, handled, and transcribed this testimony and evaluate how it was created and how it might be used by historians.
Prior to that in week 8, students will make a short presentation to the group at the mini-conference about their chosen project, the research they have undertaken, and their likely direction for the reflective essay.
For further details about assessed work, students should refer to the Taught Masters Degrees Statement of Assessment.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| University - project | 100 |
Module feedback
Following their formative assessment task, students will receive constructive verbal feedback from the module convenor and their peers during the mini-conference, which they can then take forward into the completion of their final project portfolio.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
Indicative reading
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:
Thompson, Paul. The Voice of the Past: Oral History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Frisch, Michael. A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.
Perks, Robert and Alistair Thomson (eds). The Oral History Reader. London: Routledge, 2006.