International conference UOHA-2024
ORAL HISTORY IN WARTIME:
ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESEARCHER’S RESPONSIBILITY
(June 13-15, 2024, Uzhhorod, Ukraine)
Ukrainian Oral History Association (UOHA)—which unites, represents and supports oral history scholars in Ukraine and abroad—is convening the international conference UOHA-2024 “Oral history in wartime: academic knowledge and the researcher’s responsibility.” The conference will take place on June 13-15, 2024, on the grounds of and with the support of Uzhhorod National University and Zakarpattia Museum of Folk Architecture and Life (Uzhhorod, Ukraine), the Huculak Chair in Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada), and the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (Kyiv, Ukraine).
With the beginning of the full-scale phase of the Russian war against Ukraine that started on February 24, 2022, many activists, community-based scholars, academics, museum workers, journalists, and archivists as well as diverse national and international research teams, began actively recording and documenting war-focused personal testimonies and accounts. Many engaged in this demanding work lacked appropriate training or experience in ethically sound interviewing methods. In response to this increased testimony documentation and to promote sound research practices, Ukrainian oral history experts, in cooperation with their international colleagues, launched professional and educational activities that led to the revitalization of the Ukrainian Oral History Association in the fall of 2023. UOHA since then maintained an active scholarly profile and continues to host open academic and public events, in support of ethically and methodologically balanced research. Ukrainian oral history experts thus embraced a dual responsibility—as researchers actively collecting testimonies and educators sharing their experience in ethically grounded methods of collection and preservation of testimonies.
The above challenges and the unprecedented number of teams documenting testimonies of the Russian-Ukrainian war believed to be already the most documented modern war call for an open dialogue on what constitutes sound research and research practices in the oral history of wartime. Since the formation of oral history as a field of study within the humanities and social sciences, oral historians focused on building a unique corpus of primary sources based on the subjective experience of witnesses of historical events under study. For this purpose, methods focusing on the collection, analysis, and preservation of oral histories were developed and substantiated. The implementation of these methods across various disciplines directly informed the production of new knowledge based on the unique role oral testimony occupies in the social sciences and humanities. Adherence to these methods distinguishes oral history as a scholarship from other initiatives to record, preserve, interpret, and publicize interview materials.
The International Conference UOHA-2024 “Oral History in Wartime: Academic Knowledge and Researcher’s Responsibility” will serve as a scholarly platform for oral history researchers to productively address and discuss the above challenges and questions.
The Conference is called to address and provide answers to the following questions. What is the difference between the academic standards of oral history and other initiatives that gained popularity with the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine? What challenges of documenting events in the context of an ongoing war do the researchers face in their work? How should one address the questions of safety and adhere to ethical norms during interviewing? What are the personal, legal and professional responsibilities of researchers pursuing the oral history of the unfolding war? What are the best practices for sharing scholarly accomplishments and academic output of Ukrainian oral historians on the international stage?
Thematic directions of the conference are:
Applications for participation in the conference will be accepted until March 15, 2024. To apply, fill in the google-form.
Participants will be selected on a competitive basis. A priority consideration will be given to members of the Ukrainian Oral History Association. Travel within Ukraine, accommodation and meals will be provided by the conference organizers. Working languages: Ukrainian, English. Based on the results of the conference, a special issue of the “Scientific Bulletin of the Uzhhorod University. Series: History” (category B) is proposed. The requirements for the publications will be sent after the completion of the selection of applications on April 15, 2024.
We are looking forward to receiving your applications!
If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact us:
uoha.official@gmail.com, +380667245423