Introduction to Oral History in Sensitive Contexts

When:
Thursday, Mar 19, 2026 6:00p -
7:30p
Repeats weekly

Where:
Online event
Surrounding areas
Boston, MA 02110

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
FREE

Hosted by:
bplcommunityhistory BPL Community History Department

Categories:
Classes, History, Virtual

Event website:
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/6989fc6b81b67dfe32a53c5a

Introduction to Oral History in Sensitive Contexts is a four-part workshop series presented by the Boston Public Library (BPL) and the After Violence Project (AVP), in partnership with Queens Memory. These workshops aim to equip participants with ethical, effective strategies for conducting oral history interviews with communities who might require specialized consent and confidentiality practices due to experiences of trauma, marginalization, or identity-based targeting.

Whether participants are recording family histories or envisioning larger public interview projects, the series moves beyond the goal of documentation alone to consider how consent and trust can shape more thoughtful, responsible methods of preserving critically important histories.

Workshop Descriptions:

Introduction to Oral History and Relationship-Building in Sensitive Contexts (Thursday, March 5, 2026)

Learn about the foundations of oral history, which is a method of collecting and preserving histories through recorded interviews with people about their personal memories and experiences. Together, we will explore why context and relationships matter, and how trust, consent, and care shape the interview process and, relatedly, the stories that are shared.

Ethical Consent & Confidentiality in Oral History (Thursday, March 12, 2026)

Gain hands-on experience creating customized oral history project descriptions and consent forms to share with potential oral history interviewees, with an emphasis on embedding ongoing consent protocols throughout the project development process.

Trauma-Informed Interviewing (Thursday, March 19, 2026)

Learn about trauma-informed approaches to oral history and interviewing in sensitive contexts, including examinations of how trauma can influence memory, storytelling, and recall in oral history interviews, and how interviews can be structured to respond accordingly.

Practical Skills & Scenarios (Thursday, March 26, 2026)

Engage in role-playing exercises to develop oral history interview questions and conduct mini interviews alongside a group of experienced oral historians and educators from the Boston Public Library (BPL), the After Violence Project (AVP), and Queens Memory.

About the Facilitator:

The After Violence Project is a community-based archive that fosters deeper understanding of the impacts of state violence on individuals, families, and communities. Their mission is to build power with directly impacted communities.

Hannah Whelan (she/her) has held archivist roles at the After Violence Project and other community-based archives, and works as a consultant on human rights archive projects involving written and oral records released through litigation with the U.S. government or Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.


Hannah holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Bachelor’s degree in World Literature and Cultural Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC).


About the Co-Host: 


Queens Memory is an ongoing community-led archiving program supported by Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY. Their goal is to raise awareness and a sense of ownership in the production of our shared historic record and empower the public to record and preserve the stories of their neighborhoods, families, and communities. Follow them at @queensmemory.

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03/19/2026 18:00:00 03/19/2026 19:30:00 America/New_York Introduction to Oral History in Sensitive Contexts <p><strong>Introduction to Oral History in Sensitive Contexts</strong>&nbsp;is a four-part&nbsp;workshop series presented by the Boston Public Library (BPL) and the After Violence Project (AVP), in...

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