THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ORAL HISTORY METHODOLOGY
In this workshop, participants will receive an overview of oral history research methodologies as employed by historians of sub-Saharan Africa. From life histories and eyewitness testimonies to the analysis of oral tradition and comparative historical linguistics, participants will learn basic approaches to these methodologies, their advantages and disadvantages, and how they have been employed in the African context. Through key readings, workshop participants will also gain a basic familiarity with the theoretical justifications for oral history research, including the work of scholars of postcolonial studies and subaltern studies. The workshop will conclude with a field exercise that will offer participants the chance to put what they have learned into practice. This exercise will invite participants to consider how the methodologies they have learned can best be put to use in Aceh, and to formulate a theory of oral history research suitable to the Acehnese context.
Facilitator: Samuel Meyerson
A social and political historian of East Africa with interests in identity, memory, and the rise of the colonial and postcolonial state. His research focuses on the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda, combining extensive oral history fieldwork with archival analysis. My M.A. thesis at Makerere University examined the historical relationship between the Jie, a group of semi-nomadic pastoralists, and the neighboring Ethur, a minority group of sedentary farmers, while my doctoral project traces how the Jie and other Ateker-speaking pastoralists in northeastern Uganda have coexisted and competed with the state since the colonial period.
Time : 08.00 - 17.00 WIB
Date : Selasa & Rabu, 6 – 7 Agustus 2024
Place: Ruang Seminar Anthony Reid, ICAIOS
Registration Fee : Rp 300.000
PIC: Marini Koto / marini.koto@acehresearch.org
