[Folkserv] HIST 7301- Oral History

Wed Aug 3 13:21:11 EDT 2022

Hello All,

Just wanted to pass on the info for this grad seminar on Oral History. I assume it may be of interest for many here. There is a heavy practical component collecting and archiving through local fieldwork. It will be taught by Ousman Kobo in the History department. I had the pleasure of taking one of Dr. Kobo's seminars a couple of years back, and it was one of the best I've experienced at OSU. Info below.

Best Wishes,

Jason

Course Description  (History 7301)

This seminar focuses on oral history as a source of historical evidence and a methodological approach, employed by many disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. Across time and space, verbal testimonies and dialogues had provided the foundations for producing knowledge of past events, until perhaps the early 19th century scientific revolution in Europe privileged written and other visible evidence of the past (considered “scientific”), over oral sources. However, by the mid-20th century, the importance of oral sources resurfaced as historians began to pay attention to the histories of societies and marginalized groups whose tradition of producing and recording historical knowledge were based on oral dialogues (testimonies, storytelling, etc.). Today, oral history has evolved, accepted as valid source of history and a solid methodology employed by researchers in diverse disciplines, including History. We will explore the complex debates about the validity of oral sources as historical evidence and proceed to actual practice of collecting oral history data through preliminary fieldwork here in Columbus.

Objective

The main objective of this course is to expose students to the theory and arts of collecting and using oral sources to construct history, and to help them prepare for fieldwork involving ethnographic approach. Thus, while the readings will cover the theories and practices of oral history, the main assignment (see details below) is intended to offer seminar participants the opportunity to practice the skills they have acquired in the readings by “being in the field” here in Columbus, collecting the oral histories of African migrant communities. Columbus has one of the largest concentrations of African migrant communities in the U.S and thus provide opportunities for pre-fieldwork experience. In addition, the exercise of collecting oral date of these communities is vital to building historical data for future researchers. Therefore, we envision that the data thus collected will be digitized and deposited with the Ohio State Oral History depository or any other available repository. Students will have full authorship of their work in accordance with The Ohio State University’s copyright rules. By the end of the semester, students should have acquired the skills for conducting interviews in ethical manners and in conformity with Federal and State laws, while attaining an inner knowledge of African societies through their contacts with the respective diaspora communities in Columbus.

Requirements

(1)       Weekly Response Papers (5-6 double-spaced pages) =40%

This seminar will require participants to concentrate their efforts on weekly reading and participating actively during seminar meetings. To facilitate discussion, participants will write reaction or response papers. These should be

Distributed electronically to all members of the seminar (including the instructor) at least 24 hours before class meetings (see specific dates below). To avoid conversion hassles, please use MS Word. These response papers will form the basis of our discussion. I therefore strongly recommend students to read their colleagues response papers before class.

Instruction on writing the response papers

In addition to a summary of the readings, the response paper should focus on critical questions about the methods, theories, and conclusions put forward by the authors. It should respond to questions such as the author’s outstanding contributions to methodological approaches and the debates concerning orality. Students are encouraged to connect each week’s readings with those of previous weeks to enable us to see some relationships between the weekly readings. By the end of the semester, students will return clean copies of the responses papers to the instructor, having addressed the instructor’s comments and queries.

(2)       Attendance and Participation (20%)

As in every seminar, the success of this course will depend on members’ participation.  Indeed, reticence or failure to demonstrate solid intellectual engagement with the materials will result in a lower final grade even if a higher grade was obtained in all other assignments.

(3)       Oral History Fieldwork (40%)

Weeks 11, 12 and 13 will be devoted exclusively to fieldwork, during which each student will conduct interviews with individuals in a selected African migrant community here in Columbus. Students may select the community they would like to study, in consultation with the instructor, and the instructor will help them establish contacts with the community to facilitate the exercise. At the end of the project, each student will write a 10-12-page report of their experiences, the method they employed, detailed information about the individuals they interviewed and an explanation of why they selected these individuals. The final draft of this report will be attached to the data the student collected, further ensuring the student’s authorship of the project is fully recognized and preserved.

            Alternate Assignment

If for any reason a student is not interested in this project, they can discuss alternative assignment with the instructor. This may be a 20–25-page historiography essay or a research paper based on primary sources.

Dr. Ousman Murzik Kobo
Associate Professor of History
Department of History
230 Annie and John Glenn Ave, Columbus OH 43210
614-247-2719 Office / 614-292-2282 Fax
kobo.1 at osu.edu

[The Ohio State University]
Jason Buchea
Graduate Associate, Musicology
School of Music, The Ohio State University
110 Weigel Hall, 1866 College Rd, Columbus, OH 43210
buchea.1 at osu.edu<mailto:green.200 at osu.edu>
https://music.osu.edu/people/buchea.1

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