Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA3048: Oral History: Principles and Practice

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

You will gain in-depth and nuanced understanding of the potential and challenges of doing oral history. You will become versed in a variety of critical approaches underpinning the methodology and in addition to doing an interview you will produce analytical written work which also surveys the scholarship and community projects done in the past. You will also develop skills in presentation, using and producing media materials and interpersonal dialogue that are widely applicable beyond the classroom. Each person will do an interview of their own but you will work in groups of 2-3 so your teamwork skills will be developed. All workshops are relevant to the final assessment; full attendance is expected, along with completion of the preparatory reading beforehand.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate excellent knowledge of the major uses of oral history methodology and of several oral history projects comparable to your own 2. Demonstrate good knowledge of the ethical questions underpinning the methodology and the risks associated with it 3. Demonstrate practical knowledge necessary to carry out an oral history interview 4. Demonstrate a strong knowledge of existing scholarship in your chosen domain of oral history and its relevance to the work you are undertaking
Discipline-Specific Skills	5. Demonstrate the ability to look beyond information content to underlying patterns within the material and carry out academic analysis accordingly 6. Demonstrate strong awareness of how the methodology is relevant to the discipline of your own programme of studies (this may be History, Anthropology or Area Studies, for example)
Personal and Key Skills	7. Work in small teams to realise a project and support others in realising theirs 8. Generate and manipulate film and/or sound recordings effectively 9. Demonstrate effective presentation skills

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

What makes Oral History Different?
Voices from the Past: the Potential and Uses of Oral History
Oral History and Poisonous Knowledge: Trauma and Testimony
Perspectives from Practitioners: Q and A with oral historian
Memory and Oral History
Ethics and Risks workshop
Technical Skills workshop
Partners in Knowledge Production: Interview Skills workshop
Preparing for the Archive: Transcription and Editing workshop

Theoretical Perspectives covered will include:

Oral History as Public History
Oral History and the Subaltern
Oral History as Performance
Subjectivities and Identities

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
30	270	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	30	11 x 2 hour classes plus 8 x 1-hour lectures. You will need to complete all readings prior to class and be ready to participate.
Guided independent study	99	9 hours per week: allocated readings/sources, general seminar/workshop preparation
Guided independent study	20	First formative assessment
Guided independent study	16	Second formative assessment (using methodology to generate questions)
Guided independent study	25	Planning and risk assessment
Guided independent study	60	Completing major assignment (interview, preparation of materials, transcription of entire interview, presentation)
Guided independent study	50	Analytical essay