Apply for the 2019 Summer Institute | Oral History from the Margins to the Center: Narrating the Politics of our Times


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 will focus 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 will explore 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 will focus 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.
The 2019 Institute will take place from June 17th until June 28th at Columbia University.
Faculty:

Click here [columbia.us5.list-manage.com] for the application:
Priority deadline: February 28, 2019
Application deadline: April 1, 2019
Admissions decisions will be released by April 10th.
Early decisions are available upon request.

For inquiries, please contact Institute Co-Directors: Mary Marshall Clark (mmc17@columbia.edu) and Terrell Frazier (tf2292@columbia.edu).