2019 Summer Institute

Oral History from the Margins to the Center: Narrating the Politics of our Times
June 17 – June 28, 2019

What do oral historians, journalists and scholars of contemporary history do when the President of the United States, supported by numerous members of congress, tells blatant lies and strives to undermine our access to traditionally reliable sources of information and democratic processes? What do oral historians, journalists and scholars of contemporary history do when scientific knowledge is dismissed as mere opinion? What do oral historians, journalists and scholars of contemporary history do when false information is knowingly transmitted with the precise aim of enhancing distrust?

The 2019 Summer Institute in Oral History focused on the challenges we face in documenting the political present when secrecy and distortions of truth threaten the most vulnerable in open societies. What role does public memory and the search for meaning play in rescuing and preserving the stories that we most need to hear? Specifically, we explored what journalists, oral historians, advocates and scholars of the present can learn from each other, as we sharpen our skills and awareness of how to document the stories that we most need to record and disseminate.

The overarching goal of the 2019 Institute focused on the role of oral history in opening up multiple accounts of truth and the search for meaning that otherwise may remain marginal – moving them to the center of our political discourse.

Core faculty included: Doug Boyd, Mary Marshall Clark, Ronald J. Grele, June Cross, Sheila Coronel, Terrell Frazier, Alessandro Portelli, Linda Shopes, Amy Starecheski, and Gabriel Solis.