ORAL HISTORY PROJECT GUIDE
What is the Oral History Project for HUM399 and what are its objectives?
The ORAL HISTORY PROJECT is the main research component of HUM399 “1968”. It is divided in five
stages or phases that you will complete as the semester progresses and that will have to be presented to
your Professor at different points. The 5 steps or phases of the project will be:
1. Proposal
2. Interview
3. Transcription
4. Group Presentation
5. Individual Final paper
The goal of this project is to gain a broader historical understanding of the period we are studying (1968)
by putting a “human face/voice” to the events we are exploring. You will achieve this by interviewing a
person who participated in a relevant event of that year and that we will be covering –directly or
tangentially-- in the class. For example, your interviewee can be someone who participated in the Civil
Rights Movement on that year, or in the 1968 presidential campaign; you could interview a member of the
student movement, or of an organization that worked for the civil rights of women, Hispanics, Native
Americans, or another group in 1968; someone who held political office, who participated in the war in
Viet Nam, or who was an active participant in an artistic project during that year, etc.
The Oral History Association of America1 has established a set of principles, goals and guidelines 2 that
can help you in the various stages of the development of your project, including the more complex Phase
2.
Project Stages and Deadlines:
Phase 1. Proposal. We would like the project to be a team effort, so, preferably, you will be working with
a maximum of two other people in your section. Your first step is to pick a topic and find the person you
want to interview. Then, present a proposal to your professor. Explain whom you would like to interview,
how you contacted that person, and how their story is relevant to the class. (Make sure that the person
agrees to participate before you submit your proposal). The presentation of proposals will guarantee a
broad array of subjects to explore and discuss in class and help us to avoid redundancies in subjects and
topics.
Proposal Submission: Proposals should not be more than one page long. They should be submitted in
class or via e-mail by Wednesday, February 23. The proposal should include the following information:
a) Name of the team members
b) Name and some general information about the person to be interviewed. Include a contact
number or other contact information.
c) Brief description of why the person was chosen, how you found out about him/her, and how
you believe his/her story will contribute to our understanding of the course.
Phase 2. Interview. Conducting the interview with your subject will be the more sensitive and important
part of the project. Before your interview, research the events your subject will be discussing with you
That will allow you to be informed about the historical background, and understand names, situations,
dates and the general settings of the events you will be hearing about; it will allow you to ask pertinent
questions that your subject might overlook, or let you take your interview in a direction that might be more
focused on the interests of the class –be careful, though, sometimes a subject’s digressions are the best
part of a story. In order for your interview to be substantial, realize that you will have to have extensive
contact with your subject. It is very unlikely that you will be able to get the information you need in a half
hour. Instead, make sure that you give yourself and your subject plenty of time to ask and answer all the
questions you have, and to let the person tell you their story in their own words.
1
2
http://omega.dickinson.edu/organizations/oha/pub_eg.html#Top
http://omega.dickinson.edu/organizations/oha/pub_eg.html#Oral%20History%20Evaluation%20Guidelines
Don’t count on getting all the information you want or need in a single session, either.
Interviewing a subject often requires several meetings. When you ask someone about events of the past,
you are opening a window into their memory; the subjects will think about the topic for a long time after
you have met. Sometimes a person will tell you a story and remember important details or relevant
additional information a few days later. Even if you are only able to have a single meeting with your
subject, make sure that you touch bases with him/her a few days after the interview and check if they
have additional information for you. Also, make sure that the subject can reach you easily, so that if
he/she wants to contact you, they can find you without difficulty.
Record your interview, either in audio or video format. If you don’t have your own recording
equipment –audio or video—you can borrow it from the IT desk in Kramer library or from the Teaching
and Learning Center in Columbine Hall. You will need to reserve the equipment in advance, so be aware
of time constraints and make sure to plan ahead. You will need to provide your own tapes (audio or
video) if needed. Since you are working in teams, one person can be in charge of the recording
equipment while the other/others conduct the interview.
Phase 3. Transcription. The third phase of your project consists of transcribing your interview or putting
it into a format that will allow you to turn it in to your professor. This means you will have to either type the
interview to submit a disk or “hard copy”, or make copies of your tapes and turn one in to the professor.
The Teaching and Learning Center, in Columbine Hall, can help you to put your material in audio or video
CD Rom format. The Transcript or copy of your interview should be presented to your professor on
Wednesday, March 30.
Phase 4. Group Presentation. The group presentations are scheduled for Monday, May 9 and
Wednesday, May 11 (Finals Exam Week), the last two class and exam sessions, and will be at the
Science Auditorium – Our Monday Meeting Place--. Your presentation is not only a narrative account
or retelling of your interview, but a contextualization of the story you have heard into the historical setting
we are exploring in class. In other words, you will be giving your fellow students and professors a history
lesson using your interview as the basis for explaining the historical event you explored. This will require
that you and your team research the topic more in depth, using class information, the library and the web
to build the historical framework of your presentation. For example: if you interview a woman who
participated in the events of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, you can present a historical overview
of the event, and then use the character you interviewed and the story she told you to give that general
history a more detailed, humanized account. Feel free to use some of the oral history links included in the
class’ link page as a model.
Your presentation should incorporate background information about the event, as well as from your
interview. It should last no more than 15 minutes, and it should include work by all members of the group.
You can choose the format of your presentation. You can use audio-visual aids –if you videotaped your
interview, you can incorporate clips from it to your presentation. You can ask your subject for photos or
use images related to your topic to give visual appeal or a more personal touch to your talk. Video, audio,
PowerPoint, or any other formats are valid for the group presentations.
On the day of the presentation, the group will give the professor a copy of its work, and an additional
sheet that includes what member of the team was responsible for what part of the lecture.
Phase 5. Individual Final Paper. The Final Paper brings together all of the material explored in the
different phases of the group project and the class, including the personal reflection papers. This is the
only part of the oral history project where students are expected to work individually. The final paper is not
only an expanded version of the group presentation, it should incorporate the individual student’s
exploration and analysis of the 1968 events that he/she has learned about by meeting the interviewee
and exploring the background of the account heard, and also contextualize that event and that lesson
within the broader social and cultural transformations that 1968 represented. This paper should be a
personal reflection on the meaning of the events of that year, and condense the experience of the course
and all of its different elements. It should be 3000-4000 words long, follow the format and style
requirements specified by your professor, and presented at his or her office, as a hard copy or in the
electronic format of your choice, by May 11.