Every year the Oral History Center organises a two-day conference of historians and oral history supporters. The idea to organise a conference which would allow researchers and students to debate the possibilities and limits of the oral history method first appeared in 2001. Since then, the conference has been held at Sovinec castle in the Bruntal district.
Seminars, workshops, presentations and discussions are all a part of the conference. Each participant gives an approx. 20-minute presentation concerning an oral history-related topic. The deadline for applications is the end of March each year.
2011: X. interdisicplinary Sovinec workshop in Oral history took place on 12 - 14 June, 2011 under the auspices of the Czech Oral History Association and Faculty of Humanities Charles University Prague.
2010: IX. interdisicplinary Sovinec workshop in Oral history took place on 2 - 4 June, 2010 under the auspices of the Czech Oral History Association and Faculty of Humanities Charles University Prague.
2009: VIII. interdisicplinary Sovinec workshop in Oral history took place on 18 - 20 June, 2009 under the auspices of the Czech Oral History Association and Faculty of Humanities Charles University Prague.
2008: VII. interdisicplinary Sovinec workshop in Oral history took place on 12 - 14 June, 2008 under the auspices of the Czech Oral History Association and Faculty of Humanities Charles University Prague.
2007: VI. interdisicplinary Sovinec workshop in Oral history took place on 14 - 16 June, 2007 under the auspices of the Czech Oral History Association.
2006: 8 – 10 June 2006 - Oral History Center at the Institute of Contemporary History AV ČR, the Archive of University Palacky in Olomouc and the Charles University Faculty of Humanities in Prague organisised the V. annual conference of historians and oral history supporters at Sovinec castle.
2005: "Oral history and its interdisciplinary usage" was the topic of the 2005 conference. We talked about using oral history to conduct research on recent history (1960s – 1980s); the problem of transcribing from the spoken language; and the subject of oppressed groups. Together with the UP Archive, the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University also took part in organising this year's conference.
2004: In 2004 we were happy to welcome colleagues from abroad who for the first time participated in the Sovinec conference. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, gave a presentation on the Southern Oral History Program, providing an overview of the oral history method in the American context and including highlights from their research experience. The results of the project „Political Elites and Dissidents during the Period of So-called Normalization
2003: In 2003 the conference was organised in cooperation with the History Department of the Faculty of Arts at University Palacky (UP) and the UP Archive in Oloumouc. The events were organised under the auspices of the dean of the Faculty of Arts UP Olomouc PhDr. Ivo Barteček, CSc. and featured the project „Political Elites and Dissidents during the Period of So-called Normalization - Historical Interviews.". The participants discussed the interview as a specific form of the reflection of facts and they also heard about the research of Czechoslovak exiles in Latin America.
