The 23rd International Oral History Association (IOHA) Conference took place from 16–19 September 2025 at the Auditorium Maximum of the Jagiellonian University. A total of 370 participants – panelists and speakers from 55 countries (including approximately 330 individuals from outside Poland) – confirmed their attendance. They took part in four plenary sessions and 63 thematic panels. Young researchers also had the opportunity to participate in three masterclasses held at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University.

The theme of the conference, Re-thinking Oral History, stemmed from the growing need to reconsider both the practice and theory of oral history in the contemporary world. This necessity is shaped by challenges with long-term and often unpredictable consequences: the crisis of liberal democracy, increasing tensions in international politics, climate change, growing inequalities, wars, and mass migration. These issues not only affect the conditions under which oral history is created, as a method of researching the past and human experiences of it, but also compel us to reflect on the fundamental purpose of oral history itself.