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On the final day of the Institute, faculty members share information before the teams present their sample projects.
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| can Americans who lived in Columbus. Georgina particularly appreciated gaining the practical skills that will help ensure the success of her project. “Many of the stories that we wish to record in the Mount Vernon Avenue community will be relayed to us by senior citizens who lack writing proficiency. Being able to make a record of their narratives through tran-scription to text or by videotape will enable us to preserve an important component of community heritage. The skills I gained from the Institute were ideological as well as practical, but I certainly wish to acknowledge the effectiveness of the practical aspects of the program. The experience of conduct-ing interviews for the purpose of transcription was eye-open-ing. Who knew that transcription was so much work?!” The Institute concludes with the presentation of the practice projects and a discussion of issues the participants encoun-tered while completing their projects. Institute participants themselves provide an important learning resource. By shar-ing their own experiences and plans with one another, the participants develop new ideas and gain real enthusiasm for conducting oral history projects. An important part of the institute experience is the extent to which participants bond, largely due to the group project that the attendees produce. Before giving their presentations on the Institute’s final day, they really work together to conduct interviews with one another, transcribe the taped interviews, and develop a five-minute team presentation. Presentations must be accom-panied by a visual piece that is created from poster board, which they cut, color, and write on. These visual pieces can be quite striking and imaginative, considering the limited time and materials the groups have to work with. In 2002, for example, two of the groups created a pentagon and an airplane when the topic for the projects was: What was your immediate reaction to the terror attacks last September? The Oral History Institute faculty includes Donna DeBlasio, director of the Center for Historic Preservation at Youngstown State University; David Mould, professor in the School of Tele-communications at Ohio University; Steve Paschen, senior archives associate at the University of Akron, and Howard Sacks, associate provost, professor of Sociology and director of the Rural Life Center at Kenyon College. All faculty mem-bers have been with the program for three years. Their ease with the material they’re presenting, as well as their respect and regard for one another, is evident to all who attend. Institute participants particularly appreciate the experience, accessibility, and diverse backgrounds of the faculty. Trained in fields including history, sociology, folklore, communica-tions, and library science, faculty members have participated in hundreds of public humanities projects. |
“The Oral History Institute epitomizes a good grassroots humanities initiative. We strive to provide training and guid-ance to empower individuals, organizations, and communi-ties to launch successful interpretive projects,” Dr. Sacks explained. “We cover a lot of ground in three days, from the initial planning of projects to the final products. Our discus-sions offer a mix of broad conceptualization and practical details. Participants depart with a clear sense of what is involved in doing oral history. And we make sure we have fun in the process.”
The 4th annual Oral History Institute will be held in summer 2004. Please see future issues of Pathways for more informa-tion.
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