Throughout the warm summer months, we have been working hard to create an exciting programme of events for the autumn semester at Newcastle. These are now finalised and we’re delighted to share them with you. If you have a proposal for an event that you think we should be organising or contributing to, please contact us either via the comments section, or at oralhistory@newcastle.ac.uk
Our programme in the autumn semester is divided into two categories: recurring and one-off. We have attempted to focus on a series of monthly events, held at the same time each month, to accommodate academic and non-academic partners and collaborators. Some of these have been on-going for a number of months already, and are now finalised within our regular series of events. The monthly events are detailed below:
Oral History Drop-In – First Friday of the month, 12pm
Our drop-in series has proved highly popular with a range of people using – or interested in using – oral history methods. These are relaxed and informal gatherings, designed to open up conversations on the issues faced by oral historians in the region and foster closer collaboration among those working on similar topics and themes. The drop-ins are held in the first floor common room in the Armstrong Building (https://www.ncl.ac.uk/media/wwwnclacuk/abouttheuniversity/files/campus-map.PDF)
Oral History Reading Group – Third Thursday of the Month, 6:00pm
The Newcastle oral history reading group, co-ordinated by our Associate Researcher Rosie Bush, will kick-off in October, the first one being on October 18th. The aim of the reading group is to discuss themes and challenges emerging from classic and recent publications within oral history. The group will meet in the Oral History Unit at Newcastle (located in the Daysh Building – directions will be circulated to the group). Readings will be circulated a week in advance – please email Rosie at Rosie.Bush@newcastle.ac.uk to sign up for the group.
Oral History Seminar Series – Wednesdays (variable)
The oral history seminar series aims to bring leading figures using oral methods to present their work at Newcastle. There will be two seminars per academic semester, held on Wednesday evenings towards the end of the month. Our confirmed seminars for this semester are:
September 19th: Helen Foster, ‘Telling Tales: the story of a writer’s relationship with an oral history archive’, Armstrong 2.50, 5:30pm
November 28th: Mary Stewart, ‘How people engage with archived recordings of relatives’ (room and time TBC)
As well as these recurring events, we also have a number of stand-alone events this semester that we would like to invite you to.
Creative Practice show and tell – Thursday 20 September, Barbara Strang 3.31, 10am
The aim of this event is to allow an informal and supportive space to discuss different areas of oral history and creative practice work. We have an exciting day of talks and exhibits: the full programme can be accessed here.
Doug Boyd, OHMS Workshop – Tuesday 25 September, Daysh 6.19, 10am-12pm
Doug Boyd is visiting us to discuss options for digital presentation of oral history using the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer system (OHMS) http://www.oralhistoryonline.org/. Doug will contextualise the OHMS software in relation to archival public access and digital humanities more generally. This will be an opportunity to see this digital tool in practice, and for oral historians and digital humanities scholars to meet Doug and hear about his work. Registration is free and can be found here.
Rob Perks, ‘Oral history and sensitive personal data: recording, archiving and partnership working under GDPR’ – Friday October 26th,15:30-17:00 [ROOM TBC]
Following significant changes in data protection legislation, Dr Robert Perks, the Curator of Oral History at the British Library and Director of National Life Stories, will discuss the impact of these changes on oral historians. This is a timely and important discussion for everyone collecting narrative data for the purpose of archiving
Workshop – ‘Challenges and Opportunities of Partnership Working: Freelancers, Universities and the Third Sector’ – Saturday October 27th, 13:15-16:00
In October, the Oral History Unit will host the annual meeting of the Oral History Society’s regional representatives. This will address the complexities of partnership working from different perspectives, and includes an open-to-all session on Saturday 27 October. See here for further details of the event.