Deadline: 28 February 2015
Open to: internationals who are dealing with oral history professionally
Venue: Łódź, Poland, 17-18 September 2015
Description
In the past several years, oral history has become increasingly popular in Central and Eastern Europe, both in academia and beyond. It is impossible to overstate the importance of various local initiatives aimed at recording history and propagating knowledge about a region’s past. At the same time, oral history is becoming more institutionalised: in several countries, archives and scholarly associations are being created, and international cooperation in the field intensifies.
While the popularity of oral history is a very positive phenomenon, it does raise multiple questions and issues. In contrast to Western Europe and North America, where oral history has been present for a long time, scholars from Central and Eastern Europe are still developing ethical, methodological and legal standards for their field. These standards are necessary for the recording, storing and editing of interviews, as well as their publication.
The conference Oral history in Central-Eastern Europe: current research areas, challenges and specificity will be taking place in Łódź, Poland, on 17-18 September 2015.
Eligibility
They will focus on oral history in countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Ukraine and Belarus. They accept both academics and non-academics who deal with oral history professionally to send proposals for presentations. Possible topics can include, but do not have to be limited to:
- the specific methodology of oral history in Central and Eastern Europe;
- ethical and legal problems regarding the recording, gathering and publishing of biographical accounts;
- archives and archiving interviews;
- the institutionalisation, financial framework and relations between various research groups;
- the important themes of today and the themes of the future – a discussion about the future of oral history in the region.
Costs
- The full conference fee is 250 PLN/60 EUR;
- The reduced fee for students and PhD students is 100 PLN/25 EUR.
- Successful applicants from Ukraine and Belarus will be able to apply for travel grants and fee waiver.
Application
To apply you need to send this application form along with a short CV to: tooral.history.lodz@gmail.com by 28 February 2015.