DC Oral History Collaborative: Oral History 101+ Workshop

Learn how to record oral history interviews with your family, friends, and community.

This course will introduce Washingtonians interested in becoming oral historians to the best practices of doing oral history, to empower them with the basic tools for developing their style and approach to preserving DC’s rich past through oral history interviews.

This course is structured to follow the full cycle of an oral history interview, from conception to processing. We will discuss practical and theoretical considerations of doing oral history in order to demonstrate the distinctive, interdisciplinary mindset that oral historians take to their work. Because oral history is best learned “on the job,” the instructor will ask you to do activities and to discuss your experiences along the way.

There is a lot of material to cover, so participants will also be asked to do some reading and exercises prior to each session.

This workshop consists of three sessions – registrants must commit to participating in all three sessions.

Register here

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March 19, 23, 26

6:00pm-8:00pm

Martin Luther King, Jr. – 4th Floor Conference Room Space – 401-C

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The DC Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) documents, preserves, and celebrates the lived experiences of all Washington, DC residents and communities through oral history. The Collaborative accomplishes this by providing training, mentorship, resources, programs, and funding to current and aspiring oral historians.

Cancelled – DC Oral History Workshop: Planning Oral History Projects

This session has been cancelled. Please consider attending one of our upcoming workshop offerings.
How do you invite interviewees? How do you keep things on track? What does it cost?

Running an oral history project is a lot of work! But the skills and best practices in this core workshop in the DC Oral History Collaborative’s Training Series will help participants understand how to avoid getting bogged down in budgetary or scheduling challenges.

This session covers topics such as developing an organizing research question and overcoming common pitfalls and obstacles. Anxious about approaching potential interviewees, join us at this session for some practice!

Register here.

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The DC Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) documents, preserves, and celebrates the lived experiences of all Washington, DC residents and communities through oral history. The Collaborative accomplishes this by providing training, mentorship, resources, programs, and funding to current and aspiring oral historians. The Collaborative is a partnership of HumanitiesDC and the DC Public Library

DC Oral History Collaborative Meetup

Calling all local oral historians: HumanitiesDC and the DC History Center are offering their next oral history meetup in Washington, DC! Join us at the DC History Center on Monday, February 9 at 6 pm to be in community with other oral historians. During the meetup we’ll share ideas, talk through challenges and obstacles, and celebrate successes. The first half of the evening is dedicated to small group discussion, with snacks. Then, we’ll gather for a group discussion.

You do not have to be a practicing oral historian to participate but come prepared to learn from others and to share your own thoughts, perspectives, and experiences.

Register here: https://dchistory.org/events/dcohc-meetup-february/ 

Oral History Interviewing Grant Workshop

Join for an in-depth look at the Oral History Interviewing grant application and program requirements

This session will provide a detailed look at the Oral History Interviewing grant requirements, eligibility information, and application questions. Attendees will also get to hear from a current Oral History Interviewing grantee who will share insights into their project, the training they received from the DC Oral History Collaborative, as well as their successful grant application process.

Register to receive the Zoom link!

DC Oral History Collaborative: Oral History Interviewing Workshop

This session in our oral history workshop series focuses on the interview experience itself.

This core workshop in the DC Oral History Collaborative workshop series will provide participants strategies to make the interview experience rewarding for the interviewer and the narrator. The workshop will begin by exploring what comes before the interview – connecting research and planning with building trust and rapport with narrators. Participants will then discuss a wide variety of potential challenging situations that may arise in an oral history interview and will co-create a list of strategies for working through those situations. Finally, participants will have the opportunity to practice their skills by interviewing another member of their cohort.

Register here

The DC Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) documents, preserves, and celebrates the lived experiences of all Washington, DC residents and communities through oral history. The Collaborative accomplishes this by providing training, mentorship, resources, programs, and funding to current and aspiring oral historians. The Collaborative is a partnership of HumanitiesDC and the DC Public Library

DC Oral History Collaborative Workshop: Audio Techniques for Oral History

Understand how high-quality audio can improve an oral history project and learn some basic techniques to enhance audio quality.

This core workshop in the DC Oral History Collaborative Training Series will take an in-depth look at some of the techniques that oral historians use to get quality audio from their recording equipment. While the workshop will focus on the Zoom H4n audio recorder, many of the skills and practices introduced can be used for recording with any technologies. In this workshop, attendees will:

• Learn how to optimize settings on their audio recorders to get the best audio.

• Understand how audio is encoded as a digital file and how that applies to: filetypes, bit rates, and frequencies.

• Understand some of the most common causes of poor audio quality and how to set up their interview space to avoid them.

Register here

This workshop will be held in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in room 401-C. The nearest metro stations are Chinatown Gallery Place on the Red, Green, and Yellow Lines and Metro Center on the Red, Blue, Orange and Silver Lines.

 

The DC Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) documents, preserves, and celebrates the lived experiences of all Washington, DC residents and communities through oral history. The Collaborative accomplishes this by providing training, mentorship, resources, programs, and funding to current and aspiring oral historians. The Collaborative is a partnership of HumanitiesDC and the DC Public Library