ORAL HISTORY WORKSHOP AT VERMONT FOLKLIFE CENTER

From: Andy Kolovos <akolovos@vermontfolklifecenter.org>
Date: May 6, 2013 6:47:30 PM GMT+03:00

ORAL HISTORY WORKSHOP AT VERMONT FOLKLIFE CENTER

Do you have a really interesting interview project in mind but don’t  quite know where 
to begin or how to proceed? The Vermont Folklife  Center is hosting a daylong workshop, 
Oral History: Community Memory  and Passionate Listening on Friday, May 17, 2013 from 
9:00 am to 4:00  pm at the Vermont Folklife Center’s headquarters in Middlebury.

The Oral History: Community Memory and Passionate Listening workshop  combines discussion 
of the theories and methods that inform oral  history research with practical, hands-on 
training in oral history  interview techniques. The class begins with a demonstration 
interview  followed by group discussion of the ethnographic interview process.  Attendees 
will then work as teams to conduct interviews using provided  digital audio recording 
equipment. The day concludes with reflection  on interviewing and a discussion of project 
ideas.

Led by Vermont Folklife Center Co-Directors Gregory Sharrow and Andy  Kolovos, this 
workshop will help you develop a plan for a field  research project, provide hands-on 
experience with digital recording  equipment, and offer a forum for brainstorming ideas 
for public  outreach based on interview findings. Our goal in offering this  workshop is 
to support participants in developing their own project  ideas. As Andy Kolovos observes, 
“Oral history is a powerful tool for  engaging with collective memory, identifying 
shared values, and  understanding how human beings draw on the past to inform action in  
the present.”

Oral History: Community Memory and Passionate Listening is a part of  the Vermont 
Folklife Center’s Cultural Sustainability Institute  workshop series 
(http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/education/cultural-sustainability/ ).  Cultural 
Sustainability provides a framework for examining human  experience in the present with 
an awareness of the past and a view  toward the future.

This workshop is limited to 14 participants and the registration  deadline is May 15.  
Registration forms and tuition information are  available on line at 
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org or by  calling (802) 388-4964. All classes are held 
at the Vermont Folklife  Center building at 88 Main Street in downtown Middlebury.

The Vermont Folklife Center's mission is to broaden, strengthen, and  deepen our 
understanding of Vermont and the surrounding region; to  assure a repository for our 
collective cultural memory; and to  strengthen communities by building connections among 
the diverse  peoples of Vermont.

Andy Kolovos, Ph.D., MLS
Co-Director and Archivist
Vermont Folklife Center
88 Main Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
Voice: (802) 388-4964
Fax:   (802) 388-1844
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