HIST204 Oral History
Department of Social & Behavioral Science: Historic Preservation
- I. Course Number and Title
- HIST204 Oral History
- II. Number of Credits
- 3 credits
- III. Number of Instructional Minutes
- 2250
- IV. Prerequisites
- None
- Corequisites
- None
- V. Other Pertinent Information
- Students may be required to take a personal and/or group field trip.
- VI. Catalog Course Description
- This course explores the theory and practice of oral history to document places, experiences, and understandings of people to enrich or challenge historical narratives. Students deploy best practices to interview, record, transcribe, and assemble an oral history with consideration to how memory, performance, and shared authority shape the final product.
- VII. Required Course Content and Direction
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Course Learning Goals
Students will:
- identify ways oral history facilitates preservation of local knowledge and the (re)construction of historical narratives
- describe how memory, performance, agency, and/or dialogic practice shape an oral history's final product;
- conduct pre-interview research utilizing primary and secondary sources;
- apply interview techniques;
- develop transcripts that reflect the words as well as meaning(s) of the narrator;
- evaluate an oral history interview; and
- contextualize a narrator's experiences and understandings.
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Planned Sequence of Topics and/or Learning Activities
The following thematic topics will be incorporated into the course:
- oral history as historical evidence
- history of the field: oral transmission of communal history to "oral history"
- historic preservation: oral history documentation and interpretation as a practice and subject of study
- theoretical concepts such as subjectivity, memory and remembering, agency and voice, performance, dialogue, shared authority, and/or power
- practical applications: choosing a narrator; selection of topics; pre-interview research; listening techniques; interview techniques; follow-up; transcription; archiving and access
- ethics in oral history
- legal issues and preservation of oral documentation materials
- applications of oral history (e.g., documentaries, exhibitions, publications)
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Assessment Methods for Course Learning Goals
Attainment of course learning goals may be assessed by one or more of the following:
- Primary and/or secondary source analyses
- Written assignments
- Discussion responses
- Journals
- Exams
- Case study analyses
- Research-based reports
- Field experiences
- Presentations
- Critiques
- Research proposals
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Reference, Resource, or Learning Materials to be used by Student:
See course syllabus.
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Review/Approval Date - 11/12; New Core 8/2015; Rev 10/1/2025