Interested in learning how to interview to hear the best stories from family and friends?Want to learn about cultural protocols and how to use the recording equipment?

Elaine Rabbitt (Phd Oral History) will b deliver the nationally accredited oral history training over two days on 10th & 11th October at Wireless Hill Club Rooms in Perth.

Elaine has developed the oral history training package for AHCILM404 Record and document Community History, drawn from the wealth of oral history teaching materials that are available in Australia and overseas.

Too busy to treat yourself to a weekend of oral history – think again?

This is a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the practicalities of oral history and gain nationally recognised certification. This is a stepping stone for further learning and possible employment opportunities.

Course costs: $395 (ex GST)

For further information about the course content contact or to register please contact elaine.rabbitt@gme.com.au, PH: 08 91949999

The Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies and the National Oral History Association of New Zealand (NOHANZ) present the New Zealand Oral History Conference.

The conference theme is ‘Ko wai mātou? Who are we?’.

See the Call for Papers.

Three webinars – two hours each – 10:30 am to 12:30 pm WST – 11,16, 18 February 2021

This practical training is a stepping stone for further learning and possible employment opportunities. You will explore, plan and prepare for an oral history interview. You’ll develop an understanding of the cultural protocols and ethical considerations associated with documenting community histories. And when restrictions are lifted, you’ll have an opportunity to attend a one-day face to face practical recording workshop.

Registration

• Three online sessions – 2 hours each – 10.30 – 12.30 (WST)
• 
Student resources

Course fees: $195 (ex GST) for three sessions

Enquiries and registration contact:

• Elaine Rabbitt – email: elaine.rabbitt@gme.com.au, phone: 08 9194 9999.

Presenter

For Elaine Rabbitt oral history training and recording is a key focus and passion. She has recorded and continues to record the stories of people from all walks of life. In addition to working on state and national oral history projects, she has developed the accredited, oral history training materials for AHCILM404 ‘Record and Document Community History’. Elaine is the Training Manager at Goolarri Media Enterprises in Broome, Training Convenor for Oral History Australia WA (OHAWA) and President of the Broome

Further workshop planned

Recording workshop (later date TBA)
:

• 6-hour workshop of practical tips and tasks
• use of professional recording equipment
• individual feedback on your interview practice
• student resources and assessment materials.

Course fee: $195 (ex GST)

Saturday 6 March 2021, 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday 7 March 10 am to 4 pm

Interested in learning how to interview to hear the best stories from family and friends? Want to learn about cultural protocols and how to use the recording equipment?

Elaine Rabbitt (Phd Oral History) and Doug Ayre will  deliver the nationally accredited oral history training over two days in Perth.

Elaine has developed the oral history training package for AHCILM404 Record and Document Community History, drawn from the wealth of oral history teaching materials that are available in Australia and overseas.

Too busy to treat yourself to a weekend of oral history – think again?

This is a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the practicalities of oral history and gain nationally recognised certification. This is a stepping stone for further learning and possible employment opportunities.

Course costs: $395 (ex GST)

Includes enrolment fees, resources, participant handbook, and assessment and issuing certificate.

For further information about the course content contact or to register please contact elaine.rabbitt@gme.com.au, PH: 08 91949999

Facilitators: Elaine Rabbitt (PhD Oral History) and Doug Ayre

6th Annual Broome Oral History Winter School

Interested in learning how to interview to hear the best stories from family and friends? Want to learn about cultural protocols and how to use the recording equipment?

Elaine Rabbitt (Phd Oral History) and Doug Ayre will deliver the nationally accredited oral history training over two days in Broome, Western Australia.

Elaine has developed the oral history training package for AHCILM404 Record and document Community History, drawn from the wealth of oral history teaching materials that are available in Australia and overseas.

This is a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the practicalities of oral history and gain nationally recognised certification. This is a stepping stone for further learning and possible employment opportunities.

Course costs: $395 (ex GST)

Includes enrolment fees, resources, participant handbook, assessment and issuing certificate. Student accommodation available.

Those who complete the workshops, an interview and their assessment workbook, will be awarded their certificate issued by the Goolarri Media Enterprises (GME) Registered Training Organisation No.51278. Your certificate will be recognised nation-wide under the Australian Quality Framework.

For further information about the course content contact or to register please contact elaine.rabbitt@gme.com.au, PH: 08 91949999

How can we make sure the stories of local communities recorded by oral historians survive the ravages of time? This Oral History Victoria (OHV) online symposium is an opportunity to explore and discuss the challenges facing communities and oral historians in preserving recorded interviews for the future.

We have a great line-up of speakers including:

• National Library of Australia, Shirleene Robinson
• State Library of Victoria, Greg Gerrand and Jenelle Colston-Ing
• Royal Historical Association of Victoria, Jillian Hiscock
• Hotham History Project, Lorna Hannan

Find out more: https://oralhistoryvictoria.org.au/event/2021-symposium/

Bookings: https://ohv-symposium-2021.eventbrite.com.au

The historian’s job in the 21st century is richer than ever before. Technological advances have created new audiences with diverse needs, and allowed historians to chart and chronicle the past in ways that have never been conceived before. These developments in our profession have created new challenges and new learnings, which will be interrogated in this year’s Professional Historians Australia conference, hosted in Brisbane on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 September 2021.

This year’s conference features a diverse range of speakers, with keynote by Professor Melanie Nolan, Director of the National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University, and General Editor of the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB). In her presentation, Professor Nolan will review the ADB’s current cultural journey amid the transition to a digital environment, the matter of diversity and the rise of transnationalism.

On day two, Dr Ian Britain, honorary senior research fellow in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne, will deliver an extended presentation on the challenges of censorship and public attitudes towards sensitive issues. Other discussions on navigating multiple stories in historic narratives, providing space for multiple voices in history, and challenges of interpreting historical source material will feature in the rich conference program. Social activities will also enable conference participants to share learnings and current projects in a convivial atmosphere.oral history.

Bookings

Book on TryBooking

The Oral History Association (United States) will hold its 2021 annual meeting on October 13-17, 2021. The conference was originally planed for Cincinatti, Ohio but It has not yet been determined if the conference will be possible for Cincinatti or another way.

The conference theme is ‘Moving Stories. Find out more about the conference and the Call for Papers at: www.oralhistory.org/2021-call-for-papers.

Saturday 9-10 October 2021, 10 am to 4 pm 

Interested in learning how to interview to hear the best stories from family and friends? Want to learn about cultural protocols and how to use the recording equipment?

Elaine Rabbitt (Phd Oral History) and Doug Ayre will  deliver the nationally accredited oral history training over two days in Perth.

Elaine has developed the oral history training package for AHCILM404 Record and Document Community History, drawn from the wealth of oral history teaching materials that are available in Australia and overseas.

Too busy to treat yourself to a weekend of oral history – think again?

This is a rare opportunity to immerse yourself in the practicalities of oral history and gain nationally recognised certification. This is a stepping stone for further learning and possible employment opportunities.

Course costs: $395 (ex GST)

Includes enrolment fees, resources, participant handbook, and assessment and issuing certificate.

For further information about the course content contact or to register please contact elaine.rabbitt@gme.com.au, PH: 08 91949999

Sat 5 March, 9.30 am – 12 noon and 1.30 – 4 pm, AND Sat 12 March, 9.30 am – 12 noon and 1.30 – 4 pm

Have you always wanted to learn how to create an oral history interview? Or has the coronavirus inspired 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 starting face-to-face interviews as soon as it is safe to do so.

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 – Prof. Al Thomson and professional historian Sarah Rood – 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 16 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.

Find out more on the Oral History Victoria website – https://oralhistoryvictoria.org.au/event/online-training-oral-history-interviewing-for-beginners-2/.

For bookings go to: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/online-training-oral-history-interviewing-for-beginners-tickets-230119893797.

Please note that members of Oral History State associations are charged the same discount rates as OHV members.

The 40th Australian Historical Association (AHA) Conference, will be hosted by Deakin University Contemporary Histories Research Group on the theme ‘urgent histories’.

History-writing is proving both persistent and insistent in the face of current assaults on the human condition. The pandemic and climate change demand historians respond as both scholars and engaged citizens in the face of worldwide political efforts to realign the past to fit present imperatives. Populism and authoritarianism are undermining the humanities and revealing the urgent need for historical thinking in public and policy debate. Our response to these challenges depends on how they are understood in relation to human experiences past and present, narrated in rich historical context, and made compelling through skilled storytelling.

Urgent Histories, on Wadawurrung country in Geelong, Australia, invites historians to focus on the uses and usefulness of the past in pressing contemporary public debates, disputes and narratives. It welcomes histories and history-making distinctive to the local and particular through to addressing shared human conditions.

The convenors welcome proposals for papers and panels on any geographical area, time period, or field of history, especially those relating to the theme of urgent histories. Confirmed AHA and affiliated streams include environmental history, economic history, oral history, children and youth, and religious history.

We are very excited to be organising an in-person conference for the first time since 2019. Thanks to the wonders of technology some conference sessions will include opportunities for virtual presentations. You can indicate your preference to present online when submitting an abstract. Preference will be given to postgraduates, early career researchers not currently in full-time employment and proposals from outside Australia.

Online registrants should understand that not all conference sessions will be available to view online. In the event of a pandemic-induced disruption, the conference will transition to a fully online event.

Deadline for proposals

The deadline for abstracts and proposals for panels, including roundtables, is 13 March 2022.

Submissions should be made via the portal available on the new conference website – https://eur.cvent.me/woqyE.

If you have any difficulties submitting your abstract, please contact the convenors at aha2022@deakin.edu.au.

The Oral History Society, United Kingdom, will hold its annual conference for 2022 on 8-9 July. The theme is ‘Home‘.

Home as both an idea and a physical place has deep meanings for all of us. It connects us to family, generation and communities, both past and present; it is conveyed and expressed through memory, objects, images and the emotions. Home can confer and establish identity and belonging but it can also signify status or position. It can be a place of safety but also of danger, a refuge but also a site of confinement. Our experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has put home in the forefront of shared understandings and discussions of home.

To access the Call for Papers (submission deadline 31 January 2022) and further information about the conference go to: www.ohs.org.uk.

The annual meeting of the Oral History Association will be held from 19-22 October 2022 in Los Angeles, United States.

We live in uncertain times. A global pandemic, the escalation of racial violence, attacks on democratic institutions, and a worsening climate crisis put strain on individuals and communities alike, often challenging the ways we understand our present and envision a future.

While the turmoil around us feels out of the ordinary, it is not without precedent. A nation founded on liberty and democracy but simultaneously on settler colonialism and slavery lives in contradiction, the avoidable but very common result of which has been violence, calamity, and instability for generations. Indeed, the present moment rests on these historic imbalances, whether in the ascendancy of authoritarianism and racial nationalism; the movements for Black lives, immigrants’ rights, and climate justice; or the myriad ways chronic inequities have exacerbated the impact of the deadly pandemic. Our present is exceptional, but it also unites us with generations of humanity who have faced their own struggles to endure.

As a worldwide lockdown interrupted the normality of societal life, it served as a palpable reminder of human capabilities and needs. Obliged to shift our family and work lives, we found ways to adapt and maintain. In need of comfort and community, we engaged new modes of communication and connectivity to provide solace and care. Though far too many fell victim to the virus—whether in body or spirit—many more invented ways to nurture and lift up. These collective trials harnessed our creativity and resilience. Naturally, they also compelled us to search for meaning, to reexamine, and, ultimately, to remember.

Call for proposals – deadline 4 March 2022

The Program Committee welcomes an array of interpretations of the conference theme. In the spirit of transformation and adaptation, this year’s session formats are informed by last year’s program committee, who promoted new ways of disseminating the stories we collect and share.

Find out more: www.oralhistory.org/2022-call-for-proposals.

The New Zealand Oral History Conference will be held from 18-20 November 2022. The Call for Papers closes 1 August 2022.

From taonga tūturu to inherited family possessions material culture plays a fundamental role in symbolizing our expressions of identity and transmitting memory across generations. The term material culture here is taken to include any objects made or modified by a human, from the smallest item of jewellery to large monuments or buildings, and the ways in which these objects are understood and/or given symbolic or other meanings in oral histories. In this conference we hope to explore two major themes. The first concerns the different roles that objects play in the oral histories of iwi, hapu, whānau, or national, family or individual oral history narratives; and the second focuses upon oral histories and material culture in the context of institutions, such as galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (sometimes referred to as the GLAM sector).

Hosted by the National Archives of Singapore (NAS), the 2022 Virtual International Symposium of the Southeast Asia Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (SARBICA) will take place from 15 to 17 November 2022 including a pre-symposium Workshop on 15 November.

The symposium theme is  ‘Preservation & Sustainability: Two Sides Of The Same Coin?’. Preservation is a cornerstone of memory institutions like the archives, while sustainability and sustainable development are the all-important challenges of our times. Partnering both issues in the theme is appropriate and timely. The theme also suggests that there may be differing opinions and perspectives on this link. The Symposium shall provide a venue to raise awareness, gain new perspectives, promote discussions and engage with questions on the intersection between the work of memory institutions, the environment and sustainability.

Expand your networks, and bond with fellow professionals at the events. For more information regarding the registration fees and other details, please visit https://sarbicasymposium2022.nas.gov.sg/.

Registration is now open for the 27^th conference of the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audio Visual Archives Association (SEAPAVAA) Conference to be held on 8–13 May 2023 at the Mahatai Pattaya Convention Center in Pattaya, Thailand. The host organisation is the Thai Film Archive (Public Organization). The conference theme is “Sustainable AV Archives For The Community”.

As part of the conference, a two-day symposium will be held on 10 and 11 May 2023. The symposium will offer an opportunity to discuss a broad spectrum of topics that interest a wide range of attendees.  It will also provide a platform to stimulate new conversations for our field.

Further information including registration and the program is available at the conference website at: https://seapavaa.net/2023/now-open-registration-for-the-27th-seapavaa-conference-8-13-may-2023/.

International Symposium: The Life Story in Oral History Practice at the British Library on Friday 30 June and Saturday 1 July. Booking link and full program available at:

https://www.bl.uk/events/the-life-story-in-oral-history-practice-a-two-day-international-symposium.

Attendance for the whole event is £45, with day passes available too.

Organisers promise innovative speakers from across the globe who will reflect on all aspects of life story interviewing, including Alexander Freund, Indira Chowdhury, Alistair Thomson, Doug Boyd, Wendy Rickard, Rob Perks and Don Ritchie. The special guest on Saturday 1 July is celebrated artist and curator Lubaina Himid, to discuss her life story recording for Artists’ Lives.

The event will debate oral history practice, research and the impact of new technology. It will also feature the launch of an exciting new website based on oral history: ‘Discovering Science’. The event is open to all, from newcomers to oral history to the most experienced life story practitioners, historians, writers, archivists and curators. We hope to see you there!

The Oral History Society, United Kingdom, will hold its 50th anniversary annual conference in Nottingham 23-24 June 2023. The theme is ‘Making Histories Together‘.

Oral history is about working together: with interviewees, within projects and across all kinds of partnerships. Co-creation and collaborative dialogue are at the heart of oral history, and the relationships between the interviewer and the interviewee can be as fruitful and successful as they can be complex and difficult.

To access the Call for Papers (submission deadline extended to 13 February 2023) and further information about the conference go to: https://www.ohs.org.uk/conferences/.

The Oral History Network of Ireland (OHNI) will hold its 2023 annual conference in person at Dooley’s Hotel, Waterford on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th June 2023.

The theme of the conference is ‘Oral History: Power and Resistance’ and the deadline for abstracts is Friday 28 April 2023. Graham Smith, Professor of Oral History at Newcastle University, is the keynote speaker.

At every stage of the process, oral history projects may be impacted by and engage with issues of power and resistance. Oral histories offer unique insights into the operations of power and resistance in our societies in the past and present. This is not confined to issues of political power and resistance but can include everything from power dynamics within personal relationships, to understanding minority-majority group experiences. Who exercises power, how it is used and how it can be leveraged are key questions for oral historians. Similarly, what is resistance, what forms it takes and how it may or may not effect social change are questions that have been explored with the assistance of oral histories. Power and resistance are also considerations at every level in the creation of an oral history – whose stories are told, how they’re told, the power (or lack thereof) exercised by interviewees and interviewers, and the purpose of oral history itself.

Further information about the conference and the Call for Papers is available at: https://oralhistorynetworkireland.ie/2023-conference.

The 22nd International Oral History Association (IOHA) Conference is scheduled for Rio de Janiero, Brazil from 25-28 July 2023. The host is the School of Social Sciences of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, the Center for Research and Documentation of Contemporary Brazilian History (FGV CPDOC).

The theme of the conference is Oral History in a Digital and Audiovisual World.

Twenty-five years after hosting the 10th International Oral History Conference, in June 1998 in Rio de Janeiro, FGV CPDOC once again hosts the world’s most important meeting of the Oral History community. If back in 1998, a context during which a South American country held the event for the first time, a number of concerns specific to the turn of the millennium were posed to congress participants, we can ask: what about oral history in the present time?

Updating this question more than ten years later, we realize that digital and audiovisual technologies impact and permeate oral history debates around the world. The use of video capture in interviews, documentary production and the potentialities of the digital and the challenges regarding its preservation are some of the concerns we have noticed in conferences and recent oral history projects. Still, the use of digital technologies and videoconference tools in the production of interviews has been employed, with parsimony, since the 2010s.

Find out more about the conference at: https://eventos.fgv.br/en/22nd-ioha-international-conference.

See the Call for Work Presentations and Workshop Proposals – https://eventos.fgv.br/en/22nd-ioha-international-conferences/submission. Deadline for proposal submissions – 1 November 2022.

The 41st Australian Historical Association (AHA) Conference, will be hosted by the Australian Catholic University on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne from 3 to 6 July 2023. The theme is ‘Milestones’.

About the conference

The year 1973 was a big one. Australia granted diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China, the Sydney Opera House opened its doors, and the White Australia Policy was declared ‘buried’. Globally, the United Kingdom joined the European Union, Idi Amin expelled Uganda’s Asian population, and the oil crisis engulfed the world. It also marked the year that Australian historians first formed a professional organisation. Much of course remains unfinished: Indigenous peoples’ struggles for land rights and sovereignty, women’s demands for an end to the unspoken violence of male power, and of course, the necessity of a liveable human environment. We have chosen the theme of ‘Milestones’ to mark the 50^th anniversary of the Australian Historical Association, and to encourage reflection: on the historical profession in Australia, how far the nation has come, and the many things it still has to deliver. But equally, we encourage participants working in any field of history to challenge easy answers offered by the comforts of teleology. Milestones mark progress towards a predestined goal, after all, and assumptions around progress and improvement were central to the colonial enterprise. Milestones can conceal as much as they illuminate, and our experiences of the ongoing pandemic render strange any assumption of time moving at one set speed. Hosted by Australian Catholic University on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, this conference will be an opportunity to take stock of what has been, interrogate the place of historical knowledge and teaching in contemporary society, and ponder potential futures.

Deadline for proposals

Submissions have now closed and authors will be contacted some time in mid-March 2023.

Links

Go to the conference website for further information.

The Professional Historians Australia will hold its national conference in Adelaide, South Australia on 16 and 17 September 2023.

The theme of the conference will be Other Histories: Other Audiences. The aim is to showcase the diversity of work undertaken by professional historians and explore challenges confronting them as they work to contracts with clients and in areas beyond the academy: work frequently extends from the concept stage through to production in a variety of formats.

The South Australian PHA organising committee will review and select papers. Places in the conference program are limited. Those who have papers accepted will be notified by the end of April.

All speakers — except keynote speakers — will be required to cover the cost of conference registration and accommodation.

Program details will be available mid-year when bookings will open.

The organisers intend offering workshops on the Friday prior to the conference for early attendees, and will provide the opportunity for appropriate site visits afterwards. There will be an informal dinner on the Friday evening and a formal conference dinner with a guest speaker on the Saturday evening.

The PHA is looking for lively audiences with the chance to network in Adelaide but will be also offering a streaming service for those unable to attend in person.

Call for papers:

Member of Australia’s professional historians’ associations are invited to submit proposals for papers to be delivered at the forthcoming national conference in Adelaide on 16 and 17 September 2023.

Deadline for conference paper proposals extended from 3 April  to 8 May 2023.