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Professor
Tatarewicz's
Home Page
About Oral History
Oral History is a powerful yet tricky methodology for creating unique historical primary sources available in no other way. While it seems deceptively as easy as turning on a tape recorder and striking up a conversation, doing so effectively while ensuring that the results are useful and meet accepted professional standards is challenging. While some of the techniques and methodology can be learned from books, mentoring and apprenticeship are essential. Professor Tatarewicz has conducted hundreds of hours of interviews in audio and video formats, has developed and managed several oral history programs at institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and UMBC, and has been involved in advancing the technique for more than two decades. In addition, students will have the advantage of the Martha Ross Center for Oral History and its Director, Professor Barry Lanman, a nationally recognized leader in the field.
Almost all scholars working in recent historical research must use or conduct oral history interviews. Anyone working in historical societies, museums, historic preservation, archives, and many other venues will eventually deal with oral history. Oral history projects are almost always requested by donors and funders of projects involving recent history, and frequently are a condition for receiving support.
All students will:
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Learn the processes and techniques of oral history interviewing, as well as their strengths and limitations |
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Learn how to interact effectively and ethically with prospective oral history interview subjects |
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Plan, conduct, and process to completion a brief (30-minute) biographical/life review interview and a thematic oral history interview |
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Learn the elements of oral history project design and program development, budgeting, and management |
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Learn to evaluate critically oral history interviews and other oral history products |
Choice of Subjects
Every effort will be made to accommodate students' existing research projects and interests, so that the interviews and other work can be directly relevant rather than an exercise. In addition, Professor Tatarewicz and the Martha Ross Center for Oral History are engaged in several active projects that might provide suitable opportunities for students. We encourage you to review your research agenda and the ongoing projects early (starting now) to discuss possible projects.
Important Schedule Issues
All students must complete a brief web-based training session on research involving human subjects and be certified by the UMBC Institutional Review Board (IRB). In addition, each interview requires a protocol be approved by the IRB before the interviewee is approached. This is difficult, although not impossible, to accomplish in one semester. We encourage you to complete your IRB training and begin to develop and submit your protocols for approval early. You can begin by reviewing the materials on the IRB web site and contacting Professor Tatarewicz, starting now.
An Early Word About Equipment
Do not be intimidated by the technology, as you will learn all you need to know during the course. While interviews can be done effectively with only modest equipment, it is important to match the best available technology with the interview and its purpose. The department has a professional audio cassette recorder (Sony TCM-5000, the professional standard), a dubbing cassette deck for duplicating tapes, and all required microphones and accessories. In addition, we have access to high quality analog and digital video recorders and even studio facilities. Don't even think about purchasing any equipment now
What can I do now?
| Study this web site, and those of the Martha Ross Center for Oral History and the UMBC Founders History Project |
| Take the IRB human subjects training web-session and study the IRB Web Site |
| Think about your research and other interests, and how interviewing might help you |
| Borrow one of the tapes from the UMBC Founders or Granite Nike Missile Base projects. |
| Watch critically interviewers on television, such as Charlie Rose, Inside the Actors Studio, Larry King, Jim Lehrer, Meet the Press, etc. For very bad or problematic examples, watch the cop and court shows, Court TV, Fox (especially The O'Reilly Factor), and the belligerent news shows like Capitol Gang. Listen to National Public Radio, especially Terry Gross and Soundprint. |
Revised: 04/30/02