Saturday, February 2, 2019 9:30 AM
Thursday, February 7, 2019 3:00 PM

Project Design is a dynamic phase of oral history practice, giving oral historians a chance to discipline their thinking, address ethical challenges, identify sites for potential collaboration, assess their resources, define “success,” and brainstorm potential future uses beyond the archive.

Project Design, which we can think of as our projects’ “superego,” stands in contrast to the wild and woolly nature of narrative, itself–presenting with coherence, rules and potential problems. Working on our Project Designs at the front end can be enlivening, inspiring and revelatory when developed in chorus with peers and collaborators, as “problems” become our guides, and part of our projects’ ultimate resolution.

This workshop will encompass a discussion of outreach methods, budget, training/support, equipment, ethical problems, preservation plan, project focus, motives, sites for collaboration. and nontraditional interview design such as the “oral history chain letter” and the storycircle.

Participants will have the option of signing up for a 30-minute project consultation.

We’ll be joined by guest instructors Alex Kelly (New York Public Library) and Liza Zapol (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution).

This workshop, which begins with a review oral history theory, methods and practice, is designed for the newcomer and more experienced oral historian, well-suited for those mid-project or those dreaming of a project, ahead. No prior oral history training is assumed.

Instructors: Suzanne Snider with Alex Kelly and Liza Zapol
Location: Solaris, Hudson, New York
Tuition: $725

Tuition includes an OHSS e-reader, a project consult, workbook, tote bag and two group meals.