Learning and using this distinctive, compelling, and very un-traditional way of doing history with living, breathing, and talking human beings!
Oral history is:
‘the recording of people’s memories, experiences, and opinions’.
Using a range of interview techniques, you can hear ‘the voices of the past’, rescue ‘history at risk’ of disappearing, and capture ‘living history’ including people and groups who have been ‘hidden from history’ (The Oral History Society, UK).
You’ll encounter oral history in a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.
In our BA, for example, our centrepiece core module is HIST522 – Talking History, Seeing History: Oral History and Visual Sources in History.
“Conducting 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.”
Kymberley Murray, BA (Hons) History – 2nd year, who conducted an oral history of Dartmoor Prison.
Grow your confidence to meet with interviewees, engage with communities, explore memories and touch the past in the present to write histories for the future.
Find examples of the exciting and original work our students have done
Our students have worked with organisations across South West England, nationally, and internationally, to develop innovative projects and acquire employability skills and professional contacts.
Find out about our oral history projects?“WRN’s to RN Voices – A study into the impact of the disbanding of the Women’s Royal Naval Service” – MA dissertation, 2019
@“The Impact of Mexican Immigration on the Rise of Anti-Mexican Sentiment and the Revival of White Supremacy in the United States between 1986-2010” – BA dissertation
?“Reflections of Childhood in Exeter during the Second World War” – BA dissertation, 2017
@“Saddam Hussein’s Invasion of Kuwait: British Human Shield” – HIST522 project, 2018
?“The Golden Milk-Cow: An Analysis of the effects of China’s ‘Economic Miracle’ on society in Shanghai” – BA dissertation, 2019
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!).
