History 01:506:280
INTRODUCTION TO ORAL HISTORY
Rutgers University
Wednesday 6:10-7:30 (tentative)
Shaun Illingworth, Director, Rutgers Oral History Archives
Campbell Hall A3
Email: illingwo@history.rutgers.edu
Office Hours: TBD or email for appointment
I. COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS
Since the early 20th Century, historians, archivists and others have relied on the oral history method to augment the historical record by documenting the memories of men and women who helped shape our history. From the powerful and famous--politicians, generals and statesmen--to the average person--laborers, activists, and soldiers--oral history provides unique insights into their experiences and motivations that other primary resources fail to capture.
In this course, we will learn about the origins of the field of oral history, examine its methodology, scrutinize the benefits and caveats related to its use and study a widevariety of exemplary oral history resources. We will delve into the ethical and legal issues surrounding oral history and analyze how oral history resources are delivered to the public through traditional archives, web-based digital archives, print sources and museums, documentaries and public spaces. Course participants will learn to think and write critically regarding oral history program design and individual interview strategy and execution. Students will also have the opportunity to engage in an interview with an eyewitness to history and play a key role in every step of the oral history process.
Together, the class will learn:
--What factors led to the development of oral history as a discipline in the early
20th Century and how it has evolved in the decades since;
--How issues pertaining to ethics, collective and personal memory, the law and technology influence the collection of oral history;
--How to design an oral history program and how to integrate technology into that design;
--How to conduct an oral history interview, including pre-interview research and interviewee management skills, in a variety of technological mediums;
--How to critically analyze an oral history interview and present your findings in written form;
--How to critically analyze the design of an oral history program and present your findings in a group setting.

The ultimate aim of this course is to enable you to think critically about the information presented to you in oral history resources and more effectively engage in the creation of high-quality oral histories.
II. SAS Core goals
Historical Analysis:
Goal I: Explain and be able to assess the relationship among assumptions, method, evidence, arguments, and theory in social and historical analysis
Goal L: Employ historical reasoning to study human endeavors
Cognitive Processes:
Goal Y: Employ current technologies to access information, to conduct research, and to communicate findings.
III. COURSE MATERIALS
1. Ritchie, Donald. Doing Oral History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2nd Ed.,
2003).
2. Oral History in the Digital Age (http://ohda.matrix.msu.edu)
This website features articles, videos, and resources for conducting oral history and issues surrounding its dissemination through the digital medium.
3. Online oral history resources--free, publically available and listed throughout the syllabus
IV. ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING CRITERIA
Participation & Absence Policy: Students are expected to attend every class meeting at
18 Bishop Place and engage in the online class held each TBD. Each student must contribute thoughtful discussion in class and online to earn a superior grade. More than one unauthorized, unexcused absence will result in a lower grade.
This course requires the completion of the following assignments:
Oral History
Interview
25% Students will be required to contribute to the creation of primary historical sources by working closely with the
Rutgers Oral History Archives (ROHA), an affiliated center of the History Department engaged in collecting the life histories of Rutgers alumni, faculty and staff and New
Jersey residents. Students will study the Archives' pool of potential interviewees and join a ROHA staffer for a

5-7 Page Oral
History Interview
Analysis Paper scheduled oral history interview. They will conduct preliminary research in primary and secondary sources for the interview and develop sets of potential interview questions. They will then participate, with a ROHA staffer-led team, in an oral history interview.
25% Students will produce a meaningful analysis of interviews from one of the programs studied over the first twenty sessions, drawing upon lessons learned regarding interview and program design during the same time period.
30% Working in groups of 3 to 5, students will review and analyze the work of a major oral history program, producing a ten-page paper and a public presentation of their findings to their peers in class
Group Oral History
Program Analysis
Paper & Group
Presentation
Class Discussion
Online Reaction
Posts
10% Students will be required to participate in class discussion in a respectful and meaningful way
10% Students will be required to post a reaction (200 word minimum) to the class Sakai discussion board and make one comment to a classmate's reaction post
V. CLASS SCHEDULE
1.
Introduction to Oral History
2.
Evolution of Oral History
3.
Oral History Program Design
4.
Case Study: Rutgers Oral History Archives (http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/)
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to a ROHA Interview
5.
Memory & Bias in Oral History
6.
Case Study: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html)
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to a FWP Interview
7.
Ethics, the Law & Oral History
8.
Case Study: The Belfast Project, Boston College
Assignment: Read Articles, Post Online Reaction to Issues Raised
9.
Interview Theory and Techniques
10.
Case Study: Center for the Study of War and Society, The University of
Tennessee
(https://my.tennessee.edu/portal/page?_pageid=91,54646&_dad=portal&_schema
=PORTAL)

Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to a CSWS Interview
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. G. Kurt Piehler, Associate Professor of History &
Director, Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, Florida State
University (Former Director of ROHA and CSWS)
11.
Utilizing Technology in Oral History Collection
12.
Case Study: IEEE History Center Oral Histories
(http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-
History:IEEE_Oral_History_Collection)
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to a IEEE Interview
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. Michael N. Geselowitz, Senior Director, IEEE
History Center
13.
Oral History on the Web
14.
Case Study: Studs Terkel, Chicago Historical Society
(http://www.studsterkel.org)
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to Terkel Interview
Select Groups for Final Group Presentation Project
15.
Uses of Oral History: Documentary, the Classroom & Public Space
16.
Case Study: USC Shoah Foundation Institute's Visual History Archive (Rutgers
Student Access: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/cms/indexes/descriptions/vha)
Assignment: View Interview, Post Online Reaction to VHA Interview
Assignment: Select Program and/or Project for Group Presentation Project
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. Douglas Greenberg, History Department, Rutgers
University, former Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for
Visual History and Education
17.
Institutional Oral History Programs
18.
Case Studies: University of Wisconsin-Madison
(http://archives.library.wisc.edu/oral-history/interviews.html) & US Navy (Naval
Historical Foundation: http://www.navyhistory.org/programs/oral-histories)
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to UW or USN Interview
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. David Winkler, Director of Programs, Naval
Historical Foundation
19.
Oral History & Community Building
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. Robert Snyder, Director of the Graduate Program in American Studies, Rutgers-Newark
20.
Case Studies: LEGACY Oral History Program
(http://www.mpdsf.org/explore/performing-arts-library/legacy.html) & ACTUP

Oral History Project ( http://www.actuporalhistory.org
)
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to LEGACY or ACTUP
Interview
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, Dance Department, MGSA,
Founder of LEGACY Project
21.
Exploring Under-Represented Populations, Part I: Documenting Experiences of
Minority Groups
Assignment: Oral History Interview Analysis Paper Due
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to TBD Interview
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. Donna Murch, History Department, Rutgers
University
22.
Flex Class -- Prepare for Group Presentations
23.
Exploring Under-Represented Populations, Part II: Documenting the Women's
Movement
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to TBD Interview
Potential Guest Speaker: Dr. Alison Bernstein, History Department, Rutgers
University & Director, Institute for Women's Leadership
24.
Flex Class -- Prepare for Group Presentations
25.
Exploring Under-Represented Populations, Part III: Documenting the Labor
Movement
Assignment: Read Interview, Post Online Reaction to TBD Interview
26.
Flex Class -- Prepare for Group Presentations
27.
Group Presentations
28.
Group Presentations