Oral History at a Distance: Reflecting on Our Practice in a New Era
Time: 2025-09-16 14:30 - 16:30
Location: Medium Hall A at Auditorium Maximum
Chairman: Mark Wong
Events within this Session
Oral History at a Distance: Reflections on Ethical Practices in a New Era
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
Designing and managing distance oral history work is now a necessary approach in the oral historian’s toolkit. Based on the research for and the substance of chapters for Baylor University Institute for Oral History’s new publication, Oral History at a Distance, the team members of Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History—with expertise in project design, ethical considerations, project management, interviewing, technology, and preservation—will provide a road map for reexamining traditional best practices and procedures in this remote environment while maintaining the high standards oral historians hold dear. At the core oral historians are concerned with how to do remote oral history well in order to record and document stories that may not be easily accessible to us in traditional settings. This paper will facilitate conversation to examine the changed dynamics and new considerations of moving from face-to-face projects to distance work. With a focus on ethics and project planning in remote environments, this paper will discuss how although the environment has changed, oral historians should still strive to meet the ethical standards of oral history work.
Speakers
Oral History At A Distance: Reflections on Managing Projects In A New Era
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
Designing and managing distance oral history work is now a necessary approach in the oral historian’s toolkit. Based on the research for and content of their new publication, Oral History at a Distance, the team members of Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History—with expertise in project design, ethical considerations, project management, interviewing, technology, and preservation—will provide a road map for re-examining traditional best practices and procedures in this remote environment while maintaining the high standards oral historians hold dear. At the core, oral historians are concerned with how to do remote oral history well in order to record and document stories that may not be easily accessible to us in traditional settings. This paper will examine the changed dynamics and new considerations of moving from face-to-face projects to distance work, with particular attention given to managing oral history team members, project equipment, and project files.
Speakers
Oral History and Remote Interviewing
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
This presentation will dive into the considerations, dynamics, and approaches of conducting oral history interviews remotely. Distance oral history interviewing is now a necessary approach in the oral historian’s toolkit, so it is important to think about the varied characteristics between these exchanges and traditional face-to-face interviews. The presentation will also contextualize this shift within the long connection between advanced in technology and oral history practice. Whether oral historians are skeptical of this new technology or fully embracing the new medium, there are elements of this presentation that will be of interest.
Speakers
How much is Oral History Changing Due to The Possibility of Virtual Conversations Around The World?
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
The Covid pandemic led Oral History to try out new forms of communications. One of these was not to be together in rooms during interviews, but to keep your distance online via virtual communication. What made some people despair, others saw this as an opportunity. In March 2020, I was in the middle of a class with students who were supposed to conduct video interviews with migrants from African countries. We had to reschedule quickly, otherwise we would have had to cancel the course. The lockdowns forced us to refrain from recording with cameras and to try out recordings with online formats. For us it was important that the quality of the recordings was still as good as possible. A collaboration with colleagues in communication science was particularly important, as there were a lot of technical details involved. At the same time, I started to interview online myself and the archive of the Österreichische Mediathek, which archives the Oral History interviews, was ready to accept such formats. This opened up the world in a whole new way, because suddenly I was able to conduct interviews that would otherwise have been difficult, for example with someone in Lebanon, in Accra (Ghana), in New York, in Addis Ababa or in Israel next to the Gaza Strip. My contribution focuses on how online-interviews changed the communicative setting and what this means for preparation and the interview itself. However, it will also provide practical tips on what we should pay attention to during the interviews, such as the interviewee’s own audio recording. Pros and cons should be put up for discussion, experiences should be shared. It is important that this comparatively new form, with which we now also work in Oral History, is reflected methodologically and practically.
Speakers
Vulnerability Under Lockdown: Interviews with Elderly Jews During the Covid 19 Pandemic, with Emphasis on Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro
Type: session | Language: English
Time: 14:30 - 16:30
Abstract
The paper is based on more than 100 zoom interviews with Jews aged 65+ in ten Jewish communities (Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Milan, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, St. Petersburg, Buenos Aires and Israel on the impact of Covid 19 on their lives. The interviews were conducted during lockdown, and reflect the feelings and thoughts of the interviewees in real time. The paper will focus on the 24 interviews conducted in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. It will deal with the methodological problems involved in zoom interviewing, and with the special circumstances of interviewing while both interviewer and interview are under lockdown. The analysis of the content of the oral histories will be divided into three circles: Personal. The impact of the pandemic on the daily life of the interviewee, the meaning of family ties, dependence versus empowerment, etc. Communal. The perception of the interviewee on the way the Jewish organized community in his/her city adjusted itself to the crisis situation. This part will analyze the response of religious congregations, as well as the social and cultural assistance granted to the elderly. State. The perception of the interviewee on the way the general society, and particularly the government of their country confronted the pandemic, taking as a case study the attitudes towards the governments of Alberto Fernández in Argentina and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.