[URBANTH-L]Oral History and Performance CFP

[Oral History and Performance Conference Committee]

Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region, in partnership with the Columbia
University Oral History Research Office and the New York Public Library for
the Performing arts, invites proposals for papers and performances for the
March 14 and 15, 2008 Oral History and Performance Conference, to be held at
Columbia University in New York City.

As one of the great performing arts meccas of the world and a vital center
for community-based and grassroots oral history research, New York City is
an ideal place to explore the intersection of oral history and performance.
The conference program committee hopes to bring together performing artists,
oral historians, and other practitioners in a multi-disciplinary conference
that will highlight the diversity of work centered around oral history and
performance.

Where oral history and performance meet lies an important emerging field of
endeavor, with rich cross-disciplinary resonances across anthropology,
sociology, history, performance studies, art history, public history,
arts-based education, community development and many other areas.
Performances, in a variety of genres, are a powerful means for increasing
access to oral history sources and engaging broad audiences with diverse
historical materials. Proposals dealing with the methodological and
theoretical issues around transforming interviews into performances are
welcome.  This conference should also provide an opportunity to examine how
stories are performed, in interviews and in other contexts.

The program committee welcomes proposals using multiple approaches, media,
and theoretical frameworks, falling at various points along the wide
continuum of paper and performance.

The deadline for proposals is October 1, 2007.  See the Call for Papers and
Performances for full details, available online at
http://www.ohmar.org/pastconferences/conf2008spring.htm.

Conference Program Committee:
Renee Braden, National Geographic Society
Jeff Friedman, Rutgers University
Susan Kraft, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Harriet Lynn, Heritage Theatre Artists' Consortium
Amy Starecheski, Columbia University Oral History Research Office