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Event—Adult Education

Doing Oral History

Feb 13, 2020

Learn how to capture an important story so that future generations can hear it in the words and voices of those who lived it. By the fourth session of this seminar, participants in this workshop will be on their way toward creating their own oral history.

Seminar Description

Learn how to capture an important story so that future generations can hear it in the words and voices of those who lived it. By the fourth session of this seminar, participants in this workshop will be on their way toward creating their own oral history. Throughout, they will be assisted in deciding upon a topic, making contact with interviewees, and developing the necessary interviewing skills through examples, in–class practice, and workshop feedback.

Four sessions. E – $170, R – $187

Mark Larson is the author of Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater, for which he conducted over 300 interviews with Chicago theater artists. He is a retired educator with over 30 years of teaching experience, including at high schools and in education programs at the Field Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, and National Louis University.

Materials List

Required:

  • Studs Terkel, The Good War New Press,1984. ISBN:0-394-53103-5

  • The Paris Review, The Paris Review Interviews, IV. Picador, 2009. ISBN: 9780312427443

First Reading:

  • Read at least two interviews from Studs Terkel’s The Good War. Choose them from two separate sections of the book. Also read the Stephen Sondheim and Maya Angelou interviews in Paris Review Interviews, IV. Focus on the questions. What do they reveal about what the interviewer was interested in capturing?

  • Bring a list of no more than three topics or stories for which you’d be interested in developing an oral history. If you already know your topic, bring your topic to the first session.

Registration Information

  • Online registration opens at 9 am (CST) on Tuesday, January 7.
  • Phone registration opens at 12 pm (CST) on Wednesday, January 8.

Early registration (E) prices are in effect from January 7 at 9 am through January 24 at 4 pm. Regular registration (R) prices are in effect January 24 at 4 pm through the end of the term.

We offer a 10% discount to members, seniors, and students.

Need Help? Please email seminars@newberry.org.

This seminar is part of the Newberry’s Seminars Program. Learn more about registering for a seminar, program policies and procedures, or teaching a seminar.