Advanced Oral History Workshop (Online: morning)
This workshop is for oral historians looking to share experiences and discuss issues that can arise when recording oral history. Guided by the trainers you will reflect on interviewing practices and strengthen your oral history skills through listening sessions and feedback. Each workshop is led by two accredited trainers, with the course content adapted to suit the participants. Each participant submits a short clip from one of their interviews in advance, for playback and discussion during the workshop.
Topics that are commonly discussed during the workshop include: traumatic events, well rehearsed stories, family interventions, over-sharing, positionality of interviewer, when to interrupt, how far to probe, dealing with sensitive topics, interviewee’s construction of narrative, and the ethics of editing. This list is not exhaustive and the training does not set out to address these areas specifically. The trainers will respond to questions and issues raised by the workshop participants and their interview clips.
Participants are required to have recorded at least two oral history interviews prior to attending. The workshop isn’t suitable for newcomers to oral history, who are advised to begin with the Introduction to Oral History course.
Each course is led by a team of two BL/OHS-accredited trainers. Places are limited to 8 participants per course.
Pre-course activity
Participants are asked to spend a little time preparing for the workshop. Each participant is required to send a 5-10 minute clip from one of their interviews to the Training Administrator 10 days before the workshop. The clips will be played during the training workshop and should draw attention to a particular topic/issue which you would like to discuss with the group. If your chosen clip is not in English please also submit a translated transcript. Further instructions will be distributed with the booking confirmation email.
Please note:
- There will be no refunds for cancelled places.
- Due to high demand and in order to ensure that each course has attendees with a variety of interests and backgrounds, a maximum of two people from any one institution/project may book to attend each course.
- There are two methods of payment. You can pay online via PayPal, debit or credit card or you can make an offline payment where an invoice will be sent to your organisation. Please select the appropriate option in the booking form.
- If you choose to pay by invoice please note that payments for training courses will be made to National Life Stories (NLS), and the invoice will be sent by email from NLS within a week of your booking. Contact the Training Coordinator if you require further details for your purchase order number.
- In booking this training course you agree to follow the OHS Code of Conduct.
Please contact the Training Coordinator if you would like to be notified of future dates.
Course schedule
This online training course is delivered over Zoom video call. Each course is run over two consecutive morning sessions, 9.30am – 1.15pm. The programme for the course is as follows (please note this is a sample structure and may differ on the day).
Timezone: London, UK.
Hourly Schedule
Day 1
- 09:30 - 09:45
- Welcome and introductions
- 09:45 - 10:45
- Overview of oral history project from each participant, including a strength and a weakness
- 10:45 - 11:00
- Break
- 11:00 - 11:30
- Overview from each participant (continued)
- 11:30 - 12:15
- Reflection and discussion of issues arising in oral history extracts provided by participants
- 12:15 - 12:30
- Break
- 12:30 - 13:15
- Reflection and discussion of issues arising in oral history extracts provided by participants (continued)
Day 2
- 09:30 - 10:45
- Reflection and discussion of issues arising in oral history extracts provided by participants (continued)
- 10:45 - 11:00
- Break
- 11:00 - 12:15
- Scenarios: the tutors present a number of problematic scenarios to be discussed in small groups
- 12:15 - 12:30
- Break
- 12:30 - 13:00
- Scenarios (continued)
- 13:00 - 13:15
- Evaluation of the workshop and Q&A
- 14 - 15 Dec 2026
- 9:30 am - 1:15 pm
- Zoom call Time zone: London, United Kingdom GB
Organizer
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Camille Johnston
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Email
[email protected] Oral History Training Administrator
Speakers
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Alison ChandBL/OHS Trainer; OHS Regional AdviserI’m a regional adviser for Scotland for the OHS and a BL/OHS accredited oral history trainer. In addition, I deliver training for the Scottish Oral History Centre at the University of Strathclyde, where I am a research associate and teach on various undergraduate and postgraduate history modules, including the ‘Oral History Theory and Practice’ and ‘Work and Community Placement in Oral History’ modules. I am also a part-time lecturer with the Centre for History at the University of the Highlands and Islands and undertake freelance work as an oral historian, proofreader and copy-editor. I actively undertake oral history research, and am currently working on a BA/Leverhulme-funded project entitled ‘Rainbows in the Windows: An Oral History of Young Families in Britain in the COVID-19 Pandemic’. Please do get in touch if you are in Scotland and would like any advice on oral history.
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Rib DavisBL/OHS Trainer; Chair of the OHS Environment and Climate Change SIGI have worked for many years as an accredited trainer in oral history both in the UK and abroad (most recently with a NGO in Beirut). I also run oral history projects and act as an oral history consultant in a wide variety of settings, from galleries and museums to schools, youth groups and heritage, arts and community organisations. My involvement in the field began in the mid ‘70s in Milton Keynes, alongside Roger Kitchen and Roy Nevitt at The Living Archive. That eventually led to my researching, writing and mostly directing 15 large-scale oral history-based community plays, focusing on, for example, steel workers, miners, railway workers or communities that have virtually disappeared (such as the West End of Derby).
2018-’19 I was the National Life Stories Goodison Fellow, writing Miriam, a stage play dealing with attitudes towards presentation of the Holocaust, taking as its starting point the Holocaust testimonies held at the British Library. I have also worked extensively as a playwright/ scriptwriter for non-oral history-based theatre, radio and television, and have written 2 books on scriptwriting. I am at present Chair of the OHS Environment and Climate Change Special Interest Group.
