"Connecting to the Ideologies That Surround Us": Oral History Stewardship as an Entry Point to Critical Theory in the Undergraduate Classroom. (1st September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nunes, Charlotte
• Is Part Of: Oral history review. Volume 44:Number 2(2017:Autumn/Winter)
• Page Start: 348
• Page End: 362
• Publication Date: 2017-09-01
• Subjects: community engagement -- critical race theory -- digital humanities -- feminist studies -- postcustodial archives -- undergraduate education; Oral history -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; 907.2
• DOI: 10.1093/ohr/ohx042
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-0798

Abstract

Abstract: In this article I argue that oral history stewardship, as a mode of digital archival practice, offers a useful entry point into understanding and engaging with critical theory in the humanities. I survey recent scholarship to propose that the practical conditions of digital oral history archiving inform the most theoretically engaged work in the field of archival practice today. Through a discussion of a collaboration between the spring 2015 undergraduate English class I taught at Southwestern University and the Texas After Violence Project (TAVP) oral history collection at the University of Texas Libraries Human Rights Documentation Initiative (HRDI), I argue that in a higher-education setting, the practical experience of digital archival stewardship clarifies a theoretical understanding of the features of responsible community engagement.