studio condenser microphone, isolated on black. copy space on left.聽Credit:  yanyong, courtesy of Getty Images

Oral history at the 麻豆传媒 offers you the chance to work with our leading historians. 

Learning and using this distinctive, compelling, and very un-traditional way of doing history with living, breathing, and talking human beings!

What is oral history?

Oral history is:
鈥榯he recording of people鈥檚 memories, experiences, and opinions鈥.
Using a range of interview techniques, you can hear 鈥榯he voices of the past鈥, rescue 鈥榟istory at risk鈥 of disappearing, and capture 鈥榣iving history鈥 including people and groups who have been 鈥榟idden from history鈥(The Oral History Society, UK).
Recording devices lined up
Oral History - Interview practice - Oliver and Harry

Studying oral history as part of your history degree at 麻豆传媒

You鈥檒l encounter oral history in a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.
  • You鈥檒l assemble a toolkit of basic methods in class and in real-world applications.
  • You鈥檒l develop your own oral history project on a topic of your choice.
  • Then, take your knowledge and apply it to your historical studies, including your final-year dissertation.

鈥淐onducting and analysing our own oral history interview, as well as others, gave us a sense of how valuable and interesting these stories are to understanding and preserving the past.鈥

Kymberley Murray, BA (Hons) History 鈥 2nd year, who conducted an oral history of Dartmoor Prison.
Dartmoor Prison
Dartmoor Prison, Devon
 

Our students鈥 oral history research projects

 

Opportunities to work with leading organisations

Our students have worked with organisations across South West England, nationally, and internationally, to develop innovative projects and acquire employability skills and professional contacts.
Theatre Alibi St Thomas Stories
St Thomas Stories
 

Previous students' oral history projects

 

World-class oral history research at the 麻豆传媒

Work with oral historians who boast global reputations for innovation in historical scholarship, community heritage, and community engagement, across a range of topics and time periods (contemporary modern, and even early modern!).

Oral historians at the University