Join oral historian Cameron Vanderscoff to discuss the practice of oral history in times of crisis. “Memory Work” will explore the potential of the oral history toolkit for your own career and for social impact. This talk will share the practical lessons and pitfalls of converting a history education into paid historical work outside of conventional tenure-track pathways. We’ll consider the oral historian as a new public intellectual, and examine oral history not only in terms of its prosaic power as a discipline, but its poetic and popular power as an artform—as orature. Concrete case studies will be shared, and the fundaments of oral history method, theory, and ethics will be explored. Newcomers and experienced oral historians alike are welcome.

Cameron Vanderscoff is an oral historian and writer with his own practice based in New York City and a deep track record of public and private partnerships. He holds an MA from Columbia University and consults internationally across a versatile project portfolio, designing and executing impactful projects and offering comprehensive workshops. As Co-Founder of the Okinawa Memories Initiative, historical dialogue and education is the heart of his work. Cameron is also the co-editor of Seeds of Something Different, a celebrated new oral history of UC Santa Cruz and experimentation in education. He is currently collaborating on his second book, a social memoir touching on pressing themes of racial and social justice in American history.

This CART Commons program is presented in partnership with The Humanities Institute's PhD+ Workshops, which expand graduate student training and provide space for asking questions you might not know to ask.

This is a virtual event.  

Please register to attend via THI's PhD+ Workshops. 

CART Commons is hosted by Special Collections & Archives, University Library, in collaboration with the Elisabeth Remak-Honnef Center for Archival Research and Training (CART).CART Commons fosters a sense of community for UC Santa Cruz graduate students involved in archival research. Gatherings include hands-on archival explorations and informal presentations alongside opportunities to consider questions related to primary source research practices. Please visit the CART Commons website to learn more and join the CART Commons Mailing List.