Exercises: [MA-IntPol-GPO /BA-VM] Listening Voices of the Past. Introduction to Oral History - Details

Exercises: [MA-IntPol-GPO /BA-VM] Listening Voices of the Past. Introduction to Oral History - Details

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General information

Course name Exercises: [MA-IntPol-GPO /BA-VM] Listening Voices of the Past. Introduction to Oral History
Semester WiSe 2025/26
Current number of participants 5
maximum number of participants 10
Home institute Leitung des Instituts für Geschichte
Courses type Exercises in category Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen
First date Monday, 17.11.2025 18:00 - 20:00, Room: (Besprechungsraum 1.06, Emil-Abderhalden-Str. 26/27)
Type/Form Blockveranstaltung
Lehrsprache(n) Englisch

Rooms and times

(Besprechungsraum 1.06, Emil-Abderhalden-Str. 26/27)
Monday, 17.11.2025 18:00 - 20:00
Friday, 21.11.2025 - Saturday, 22.11.2025, Friday, 05.12.2025 - Saturday, 06.12.2025 10:00 - 18:00

Module assignments

Comment/Description

Die Übung wird von Dr. habil. Dobrochna Kalwa (Universität Warschau) angeboten, die aber erst um den 17.11.2025 Zugang zu StudIP haben wird. Wenn Sie vorab Fragen haben, wenden Sie sich bitte gern an mich.

Diese Lehrveranstaltung ist im Studienbegleitprogramm von gender*bildet (Zertifikat Gender Studies) anrechenbar.

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The main aim of the course is to reflect on Oral History uses (and abuses) in historical research, in terms of:

- interview-production (how to prepare for and conduct an interview with a contemporary witness);
- interview-analysis (how to work with interviews and already existing testimonies from Oral History Archives);
- secondary sources based on Oral History interviews;
- epistemic advantages and limitations;
- Oral History in Poland.

The classes will consist of group discussions and team-work on specific topics, based on selected readings (in English) and multimedia examples (English or with English subtitles) presenting research of Oral History with emphasis on Polish research.

Curriculum:
Introductive lecture: From Rejection to Appreciations. The Complicated Relations of Oral History and Historiography.
Main topics:
- Impact of Oral History on historiography of the 20th century
- Benefits and obstacles of using testimonies of contemporary witnesses in historical research
- The voices of contemporary witnesses in Public History
- Archives of Oral History (in Poland)
- Good (and) bad practices in doing Oral History interviews
- Stages of doing Oral History (from initial idea to final outcome)
- Transcription and video/audio recordings in Oral History analysis.
- Oral History exercise – presentation of team work in conducting an Oral History interview.

Readings for the course (available on StudIP):
Andrews, Molly. 1995. ‘A Monoglot Abroad. Working through Problems of Translation’. Oral History 23 (2): 47–50.
Antoniou, Antonis. 2022. ‘Haunting pasts’. Oral History 50 (2): 52–61.
Bloom, Jack M. 2006. ‘The Solidarity Revolution in Poland, 1980–1981’. The Oral History Review 33 (1): 33–64.
Frisch, Michael H. 2003. ‘Sharing Authority: Oral History and the Collaborative Process’. The Oral History Review 30 (1): 111–113.
Geraci, Victor W. 2005. ‘Review: Letting Sources Become the Narrative: Using Oral Interviews to Write History’. The Public Historian 27 (1): 61–66.
Grele, Ronald J. 2008. ‘From the Intimate Circle to Globalized Oral History’. Words and Silences. Bulletin of the International Oral History Association 4 (1–2): 1–4.
Humphries, Steve. 2022. ‘The Art of the Intimate Interview’. Oral History 50 (2): 96–106.
Lynd, Staughton. 1993. ‘Oral History From Below’. The Oral History Review 21 (1): 1–8.
McLaughlin, Cahal. 2018. ‘What Happens When an Interview Is Filmed? Recording Memories from Conflict’. The Oral History Review 45 (2): 304–320.
Portelli, Alessandro. 1981. ‘The Peculiarities of Oral History’. History Workshop Journal 12 (1): 96–107.
Portelli, Alessandro. 2015. A Dialogical Relationship. An Approach to Oral History.
Ringelheim, Joan. 2007. Oral History Interview Guidelines. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Shopes, Linda. 2003. ‘Sharing Authority’. The Oral History Review 30 (1): 103–110.
Wierling, Dorothee. 1993. ‘Three Generations of East German Women: Four Decades of the GDR and After’. The Oral History Review 21 (2): 19–30.
Yow, Valerie Raleigh. 1997. ‘Do I Like Them Too Much?’: Effects of the Oral History Interview on the Interviewer and Vice-Versa’. The Oral History Review 24 (1): 55–79.

Studienleistung:
Ihre Studienleistung besteht in der sorgfältigen Lektüre und Vorbereitung der Texte für die einzelnen Sitzungen, der engagierten mündlichen Mitarbeit und der Bereitschaft zur Vorstellung Ihrer Projektergebnisse im Seminar.

Modulleistung:
Die Modul-/Prüfungsleistung wird im Seminar IntPol GPO erbracht.

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "Weitere LV WS 25/26".
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • The enrolment is possible from 29.09.2025, 08:00 to 19.10.2025, 00:00.
  • A defined number of seats will be assigned to these courses.
    The seats will be assigned in order of enrolment.