Oral History Victoria Training Workshop: Oral history interviewing for beginners

Have you always wanted to learn how to create an oral history interview? Or do you have an interest in recording the memories of elders in your family or community? Maybe you’re wondering whether or not to record remotely, or you’re thinking about conducting face-to-face interviews.

This popular Oral History Victoria two-day online training workshop is for anyone who would like to learn how to prepare, conduct, record and document an oral history interview. Facilitated by two of Australia’s most experienced oral history trainers, and using Zoom technology, you will learn and practice essential interview techniques and discuss important ethical issues.

After the first Saturday sessions, you will conduct your own oral history interview (remote recording or face-to-face), which will be a learning resource in the second Saturday sessions. The workshop will be limited to 18 participants to enable lively discussion and practical work in an online format. Participants will need a computer with wifi connection – the Zoom link will be provided, along with Zoom instructions.

TRAINER PROFILES

Sarah Rood is a professional consulting historian who has been working in the field for the past 20 years. She has seen the uses and applications of oral history change drastically. Motivated by a desire to help communicate the past and to help connect individuals and communities with history and identity Sarah has recorded countless oral history interviews. Firmly believing that everyone has a story to tell, Sarah aims to work with people to record their stories in a way that both documents their experiences and ensures that (with permission) it can be accessed by others in the future. The interplay between the tangible and the intangible and how this plays out in oral history is a constant source of intrigue for Sarah. In recent years Sarah’s focus has also turned to the way story gathering and storytelling can be applied to drive change. Contact: sjrood@waybackwhen.com.au

Alistair Thomson, national award-winning teacher and now Emeritus Professor of History at Monash University, taught his first oral history workshop in 1985 at the Wangaratta Centre for Continuing Education and has been teaching oral history in both community and academic settings ever since. Al is currently President of Oral History Australia. His oral history books include: Anzac Memories: Living with the Legend (1994), The Oral History Reader (2016), Ten Pound Poms: Australia’s Invisible Migrants (2005), Moving Stories: an intimate history of four women across two countries (2011), Oral History and Photography (2011), and Australian Lives: An Intimate History (2017). Al is currently leading a research project about the history of fathering in Australia and co-editing The Bloomsbury Oral History Handbook. Contact: Alistair.Thomson@monash.edu

Training program

Timing: the workshop takes place over two consecutive Saturdays.

On each workshop day the session will go from 9.30am - 4 pm with a lunch break from 12 - 1.15 pm.

NOTE: Tickets are made first available to OHV members, before being made available to non-members from the 2nd of September. To become an OHV member visit https://oralhistoryvictoria.or...

As a community organisation, OHV reserves the right to cancel this training should there be inadequate registration numbers to cover costs, or in other unforeseeable circumstances. Should we need to cancel the training you will be refunded the cost of your ticket.