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COH
> Oral History
Courses
The Oral History Center (Centrum orální historie
- COH) considers it very important to promote the oral history
method among students because it consequently enables us
to choose potential co-workers for our future projects.
During its existence, COH has organised numerous seminars,
workshops and lectures at various universities in the Czech
Republic, including, among others, Charles University in
Prague, University Palacky in Olomouc, the University of
West Bohemia in Plzeň, and Collegium Hieronymi Pragensis
in Prague.
The two-semester course The
Oral History Method in Contemporary History is currently
offered at several university institutes, including Charles
University’s Department of Political Science (taught
in Czech); the Faculty
of Humanities at Charles University in Prague (taught
in Czech); and the Collegium
Hieronymi Pragensis in Prague (taught in English). The
courses are led by Miroslav Vaněk, director of the Oral
History Center.
 The
main objectives of the course are: to familiarize students
with the oral history method in contemporary history research;
to contextualize oral history vis-à-vis other historical
research methods; and to present its interdisciplinary usage
in the humanities (sociology, anthropology, political science,
ethnology, etc.). After passing the examination, students
should be able to conduct their own interviews, analyse
and interpret the results of their oral history research
and process and archive the materials they obtained in the
course of their research.
The course also includes a presentation of some practical
results from COH projects that used the oral history method
to research different social groups during the „normalization“
period, for example political elites, opposition groups
and youth.
During the course, each student should
carry out and analyse one structured interview and from
that they complete the "Interview report".
| The course is
divided into fourteen two-hour lectures:
1. Introduction. The Oral History Center at the Institute
of Contemporary History, Academy of Sciences. The
Center’s research goals. International cooperation.
The possibility for students to participate in Oral
History Center projects.
2. What does oral history stand for?
The oldest and the youngest research method. Oral
history abroad. The place of oral history in Czech
historiography.
3. Qualitative research methods. Subjectivity
vs. objectivity in historiography. The democratization
of history. "Micro" and "macro"
history.
4. The interview – life story. Differences
and agreement. Interview examples. Transcription –
audio – video.
5. Psychological and professional preparation
for conducting the interviews. Selecting the narrators.
Becoming acquainted with available recording equipment.
6. Conducting the interview. 1st and 2nd interviews.
Interview report - „Protocol“.
7. Transcribing and archiving the interview.
Interview analysis.
8. Interpreting the information collected
and applying it in historical research.
9. Presenting the results. Oral history
and contemporary written sources – relations, legislation,
practice. The legislative background of oral history
projects. Students’ presentations I.
10. Ethics in oral history research.
11. Political elites during the so-called
normalization period (based on an Oral History Center
project). Students‘ presentations II.
12. Dissidents during the so-called
normalization period (based on an Oral History Center
project). Students‘ presentations III.
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The course C.H.P.
- 2005
The course C.H.P. -
summer semester 2005/06
Kurz C.H.P. - summer
semester 2005/06 |
13. Student movements, the young generation
and November 1989 (based on an Oral History Center project).
Students’ presentations IV.
14. Conclusion. The limits of oral history
methodology in contemporary history research. Researching
individual social groups during the "normalization"
period.
Literature:
JECHOVÁ, K.: Lidé
Charty 77: Zpráva o biografickém výzkumu. Praha,
Centrum orální historie ÚSD 2003.
FIALOVÁ, Z.: Orálna história –
história s tvárou a menom. In: Malé dějiny česko-slovenských
vzťahov VI. Bratislava, Nadace Milana Šimečky 1996. s. 31–46.
FRÝDLOVÁ, P. (ed.): Všechny naše
včerejšky I, II, III: Paměť žen. Praha, Nadace Gender
Studies 1998, 2000, 2002.
MUSILOVÁ, D.: Životní příběhy
ročníku 1924: Lidský osud v dějinách 20. století.
Díl I-III. Praha, Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR 1999.
NIETHAMMER, L.: Annäherung an
der Wandel: Auf der Suche der volkseigenen Erfahrung in
der Industriepovinz der DDR. In: BIO. Zeitschrift
für Biographieforschung und Oral History, č. 1 (1988).
OTÁHAL, M. – VANĚK, M.: Sto studentských
revolucí. Studenti v období pádu komunismu – životopisná
vyprávění. Praha, Lidové noviny 1999.
PERKS, R. – THOMPSON, A. (ed.): The
Oral History Reader. London and New York, Routledge
1998.
RITCHIE, A. D.: Doing oral History.
New York, Twayne Publishers 1995.
SALNER, P.: Přežili holokaust.
Bratislava, Věda 1997.
THOMPSON, P.: The Voice of the
Past: Oral History. Oxford University Press, NY 1978.
VANĚK, M.: Orální historie ve
výzkumu soudobých dějin. Centrum orální historie
ÚSD, Praha 2004.
VANĚK, M. a kol. Orální historie. Metodické
a „technické“ postupy (skriptum). FF UP Olomouc,
Olomouc 2003.
VODÁKOVÁ, A. – MAŘÍKOVÁ, H.: Problém
normativity a policejní represe v předlistopadovém Československu.
Praha, Sociologický ústav ČSAV 1995.
VÖRLÄNDER, H. (ed.): Oral History:
Mündlich erfragte Geschichte. Götingen, Vandenhoeck u. Ruprecht
1990.
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