Oral Conference History in Montreal
In October, MDOCS hit the road to Montreal, taking six students to the Oral History
Association annual conference. Along for the ride were four team members of the WSPN
show, Amanda Peckler 20, Cristal Maria 20, Ajani Otieno-Rudek 20, and Sanjna Selvarajan
21, WSPN General Manager Adam Simon 19, and recent alumna Emily Rizzo 18 who was
presenting at the conference with MDOCS Director Adam Tinkle about a summer collaborative
research project.
As it goes with conferences, we left with our brains filled with inspiration, information, and a deeper understanding of the practices of oral history and the delicate balance in the relationship between narrator and interviewer. Topics ranged from the qualitative methods of building an accessible and useable online archive to the importance of including common/local knowledge in the woven tapestry of historical records in order to gain a deeper understanding of the past.
This trip helped show me just how important archiving stories and events is, specifically
in the context of what we aim to do through Pass The Mic to serve underrepresented
communities on-campus... Before the trip, I was mostly concerned with our current
audience and current listeners, but now I understand the importance of our platform
as an archive as well. Ajani Otieno-Rudek 20
All students on the trip have had a direct hand in the past and present of WSPN, and a special tour through CKUT, an independent radio station located on the McGill campus, proved especially inspiring.
There is no doubt experiences off-campus such as this, allowing students to engage with experts in their field, will have far-reaching impacts on their remaining time here at 窪蹋勛圖厙 and in their professional life. Students not only had the chance to mingle with professionals, but they formed relationships that are bound to seed future collaborations and opportunities in the years to come.
In addition to the intellectual scholarly rigorousness of these various settings, forging personal connections with professionals in these fields was inspiring and may be tangibly important in my future endeavors. - Adam Simon 19
- Written by Jesse O'Connell, MDOCS Program Coordinator