International Oral History Association
(Published each four months)
Number 6, April, 2000.
This is the last issue of IOHA News prior to the XIth International Conference, which will be held in Istanbul from the 15th to the 19th of June, on the occasion of our Association's fourth anniversary -an anniversary which we will, indeed, celebrate, having achieved the goals which we set ourselves -i.e. to cease being a Eurocentric movement and achieve more agile interlinking. IOHA has thrown itself open to Latin America and to other continents, as attested to by the home countries of our members and the places -Brazil and Turkey- where the first two congresses were held.
In Goteborg, we decided to launch Words and Silences, to which IOHA News and our web page were later added. Most certainly, we have given birth to a nigh-on moneyless and bureaucracy-free organisation which, nimble and effective, respects words and silences and remains open to suggestions, and to those people interested in the challenges and intellectual chores faced by historians, while, where necessary, defending our way of putting democracy into practice.
The efforts and good works of Alexander von Plato, serving as Secretary and Treasurer, have been crucial. it would not have been possible to get out our publications without the efforts of Montse Condomines, Graciela de Garay, Eugenia Meyer, Eva Salgado, Alistair Thomson and Lluís Ubeda. Neither would IOHA have come into being without Marieta de Moraes and Arzu Arzu Öztürkem, who successfully assumed responsibility for the Rio de Janeiro and Istanbul gatherings. The Program Committee which we elected in Rio, led by Janis Wilton, and with the participation of Albert Lichtblau, Marieta de Moraes and Anne Ritchie, is turning out to be a decisive factor in the organisation of the latter event. Nonetheless, the Istanbul gathering will only be possible thanks to the efforts and dedication of Gunhan Danisman, who, working out of Bogaziçi University, and faced with the forced absence of Arzu, has assumed responsibility for the XIth International Oral History Conference.
In Istanbul, we will have occasion to rethink our future and assess our progress thus far. We will be faced with electing the new Board and the new President, and with choosing the site for the next International Conference. Also, we will be deciding whether it is necessary to continue with our publications and, if the answer to this question is affirmative, seeking people to take responsibility for them, since the present editors of Words and Silences and IOHA News cannot continue with these commitments. I summon you all, then, to the General Meeting which will be held during the Istanbul Conference, starting at 11:30 a.m. on the 17th of June.
Mercedes Vilanova
President of IOHA
Proposal to amend the IOHA Constitution
Following discussion with national oral history associations, the Council of the International Oral History Association proposes to amend the IOHA Constitution to offer a new category of membership: National Oral History Association Membership. The proposal is designed to encourage a positive mutual relationship between the IOHA and the many national oral history associations around the world. At the IOHA General Meeting in Istanbul in June 2000, IOHA members will be invited to ratify or not the following proposal:
The Council proposes that the IOHA Constitution should be amended to create a third tier of IOHA membership (apart from individual and institutional membership) for affiliated national oral history associations. Affiliated national oral history associations will support the IOHA and benefit from membership in a number of ways: receive IOHA publications; receive guidance and support from the IOHA on issues of international concern; encourage their own members to join the IOHA and attend IOHA conferences (and if possible provide funds to subsidise the costs of attendance by their members at IOHA conferences); provide a two-way fee concession arrangment for oral history conferences (whereby IOHA members will be entitled to a concessionary fee at national oral history conferences; and members of affiliated national oral history associations will be entitled to the concessionary fee for IOHA conferences).
As is the case with IOHA institutional members, affiliated national oral history associations will not have voting rights at IOHA meetings.
Members of the affiliated national oral history associations who do not join the IOHA as individual members will not benefit from other IOHA membership rights (they will not receive IOHA publications and will have no voting rights).
The membership fee for affiliated national oral history association will be set at a rate proportionate to the membership of the national association. The fee levels will be set by the IOHA Council upon recommendation from the IOHA General Meeting.
Face to Face
Dear Friends: As some of you may already know, I have been under treatment since December 1998 following my diagnosis of leukemia. Now I am back home, my treatment continues , and even though I cannot fully be in the academic world, I am able to follow the developments regarding our IOHA meeting in June. In my absence, my colleagues at Bogazii University have done their best to collaborate with the IOHA Program Committee. Although one of our sponsors dropped out, we are still hoping to have a successful conference in June. I hope I may be able to attend it, and to share in the liveliness this meeting will bring to the oral history circles in Turkey. Until then, my best regards to all of you. Hoscakalin!
Arzu Öztürkmen
Report on the XIth International Oral History Conference
1. The Conference Planning Committee and their Turkish colleagues have decided to hold the Conference entirely on the campus of Bogazici University in order to achieve a closer, more focused and collegial environment. As a result of this decision, the University has made available accommodation at the Super Dorm facility on the campus. Information is posted on the Conference website (http://www.IOHA11.boun.edu.tr ) for procedure to follow in order to reserve room at Super Dorm. Those participants who may not have made hotel reservations, yet, and would still insist to stay at a hotel in historic downtown, should follow the new instructions on the Conference website.
2. A total of 278 written papers have reached the Conference Coordinator in Istanbul. Out of this total, 202 of them are independent submissions and 76 papers have been sent as part of 16 separate panel proposals. Brasil is going to be the largest group with 81 participants, followed by Turkey with 38 participants, and then comes USA with 33, Argentina with 31, Mexico with 18, Spain with 16 and UK with 15 participants. Netherlands and Austria each with 7 participants are followed by Australia with 6 participants, Greece with 5, Germany with 4, Sweden, Russia, Uruguay, South Africa, Bulgaria, New Zealand and Hungary with 3, while Columbia, Peru, Morocco and Italy join the Conference with 2 participants each. And the following countries will be represented by 1 participant each; Lebonan, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Sudan, Belgium, Canada, Rumania, Slovakia, Finland. Together with a large number of participants who have registered as observers only, just over 300 scholars from 34 countries will be meeting in Istanbul 2000, and IOHA's XIth International Conference is destined to be an exciting occasion.
3. The Turkish Conference Committee has begun publishing the Conference Proceedings, which will be in three volumes of approximately 500 pages each. The contents of the three volumes are arranged according to already announced nine subthemes of the Conference: Remembering the 20th century, imagining the 21st century / Virtual oral history: the new media and the word/ The millenium / Crossroads of continents / Remembering conflicts / Experienced history / Teaching oral history / Community projects / Methodological and ethical issues.
The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) is pleased to host the first joint conference of the International Association of Sound & Audiovisual Archives (IASA) and the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audio Visual Archives Association (SEAPAVAA), from 3 to 7 July 2000, at Hotel Intercontinental, Singapore. The theme of the conference, "A Future for the Past: AV Archiving in the 3rd Millennium," embraces the idea that archivists must always project their thoughts in two directions: backwards & forwards, in order to ensure that the work of the past will remain intact for future generations. This 5-day conference will highlight current trends and major issues facing the profession. The conference will provide an excellent opportunity for you to network with your counterparts, meet new players in the field, as well as to keep abreast of issues & technologies to enhance the work in your organization. For more information on the conference and registration details, please contact: Ms Karen Chan, Tel: +65-332 7969, Fax: +65-339 5697, Email: karen_chan@nhb.gov.sg , or Ms Irene Lim, Tel: +65-332 7974, Fax: +65-339 5697, Email: irene_l_l_lim@nhb.gov.sg
Oral History Course at the University of Columbia
The annual Oral History course run by the University of Columbia's Oral History Research Office will take place from the 3rd to the 14th of July, 2000. The teaching staff this year will include Alessandro Portelli, Ronald Grele, Kim Lacy Rogers, Mary Marshall Clark, Ann Cvetkovich, and Linda Shopes. The topic is "Oral History, Memory and Trauma". To enrol or find information, consult the University of Columbia's web page: www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/oral
VIIth Encounters on Oral History and Sources: "Memory and Identities"
Organised by the Santa Teresa de Avila Cultural Foundation and the Oral Sources Seminar (Universidad Complutense, Madrid), these will be held from the 27th of October, 2000, in Avila, and their specific theme will be "Memory and Identities". The Congress will centre around four sessions, each of which will consist of a framework presentation, along with round tables and communication sessions. The themes proposed for each of the sessions are as follows: "Social, Cultural and Political Conflicts", "Frontiers and Citizenship", "History and Gender Identities" and "Work Processes and Cultures".
The deadline for submissions is May 31st, 2000. The enrolment deadline is October 20th, 2000. For further information, contact: Fundación Cultural Santa Teresa, Fundación Cultural Santa Teresa. VII Jornadas Historia y Fuentes Orales. C/ Los Canteros, s/n. 05005 Ávila. Phone: 920-254790. Fax: 920-251721.
From Mouth to Page
The History Institute of the City of Buenos Aires has published a special issue of Retrieved Voices:Oral History Magazine, containing the first results of the project entitled "The People's Century: Their Retrieved Voices" -programmed to conclude in mid 2000- which consists of the setting up of workshops in eleven Buenos Aires neighbourhoods, between April and October of 1999, in which more than 100 people took part in some 250 meetings. This task having been finished, the source-creation stage completed, and the transcripts of the encounters partially produced, the research team has began to catalogue and analyse the materials produced. Further information at ihcba@buenosaires.gov.ar .
Centre for Life History Research At the University of Sussex, the newly established Centre for Life History Research (www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/clhr ) supports a portfolio of life history research and teaching activities with an outstanding international reputation. Life history research uses life stories -whether written, oral or in other forms- as a primary source for social, cultural or historical research. The University houses the Mass-Observation Archive, a unique research collection focusing on twentieth century British life and the base for an ongoing research project in autobiographical and documentary writing. The new Centre also has close links with oral and community history projects in Sussex, Britain and abroad. The Joint Directors of the Centre are Dorothy Sheridan, President of the European Association for Autobiography and Mass-Observation Archivist and Project Director, and Alistair Thomson, co-editor of the British journal Oral History and Vice-President of the International Oral History Association.
The University offers several courses and training opportunities, such as a MA in Life History Research: Oral History and Mass-Observation; Certificate in Life History Work - an undergraduate level open access programme offered through the University's Centre for Continuing Education and comprising two courses: Exploring Life Histories: Documents of Life, and Recording Life Histories: Oral History and Multimedia; Life Stories and Community Histories - a CCE course for local communities supported by community development funds; training events in oral history or other forms of life history research are customised for institutions and community groups; the Centre for Life History Research Seminar Series takes place on Tuesday lunchtimes in the University Library and is open to members of the University and the wider public.
For MA application forms and further details contact Alistair Thomson, Centre for Life History Research, CCE, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN19RG, England, email a.s.thomson@sussex.ac.uk , phone 01273-606755 ext 3585, or explore course details on the University website www.sussex.ac.uk (for the current Postgraduate Prospectus and applications forms see /Units/publications/pgrad/; or find our MA course details within the Graduate Research Centre Humanities webpage)
To join the Centre mailing list please contact: Centre for Life History Research, Mass-Observation Archive, University of Sussex Library, Brighton, BN1 9QL, England, phone 01273-678157; email d.e.sheridan@sussex.ac.uk or visit the Centre webpage at www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/clhr
Edited by: Eugenia Meyer and Eva Salgado, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Translation: Fred Rogers. In charge of printing and distribution: Mercedes Vilanova, Montserrat Condomines and Lluis Ubeda. Printed by: HAFO, Barcelona, Spain. Print run: 150 copies. (Contributions and suggestions: hel@servidor.unam.mx y ahcbhafo@trivium.gh.ub.es )