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:

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.
What does oral history stand for? The oldest and the youngest research method. Oral history abroad. The place of oral history in Czech historiography.
Qualitative research methods. Subjectivity vs. objectivity in historiography. The democratization of history. "Micro" and "macro" history.
The interview – life story. Differences and agreement. Interview examples. Transcription – audio – video.
Psychological and professional preparation for conducting the interviews. Selecting the narrators. Becoming acquainted with available recording equipment.
Conducting the interview. 1st and 2nd interviews. Interview report - „Protocol".
Transcribing and archiving the interview. Interview analysis.
Interpreting the information collected and applying it in historical research.
Presenting the results. Oral history and contemporary written sources – relations, legislation, practice. The legislative background of oral history projects. Students' presentations I.
Ethics in oral history research.
Political elites during the so-called normalization period (based on an Oral History Center project). Students' presentations II.
Dissidents during the so-called normalization period (based on an Oral History Center project). Students' presentations III.
Student movements, the young generation and November 1989 (based on an Oral History Center project). Students' presentations IV.
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.