Co-editors Alistair Thomson, Alexander Freund, and Erin Jessee are inviting expressions of interest to contribute chapters to the forthcoming Bloomsbury Oral History Handbook. The Handbook is a substantial English-language volume of approximately 25 essays written by oral historians from around the world and speaking to the practice of oral history in different international contexts. The book will offer an international overview of contemporary oral history theory and practice. It is primarily intended as a scholarly work for academics, postgraduate researchers and advanced level undergraduates, while also being of interest to oral historians working outside the academy.
We are looking for chapters (7500 words) that speak to the following topics:
– Thematic interpretation of interview sets (Explores how oral historians develop social and historical interpretations using sets of oral history interviews, in combination with other data, and the challenges and contributions of thematic interpretation)
– Making oral history exhibitions and place-based installations (Explores issues and approaches in the range of practices and places when we make located oral histories that combine different media in multi-sensory ‘memoryscapes’ that engage users and audiences in distinctive ways)
– Making audio visual histories (Explores issues and approaches in making podcasts, website productions, radio programs and filmed documentaries)
– Teaching oral history (Explores approaches and issues in teaching and creating oral history in school, university and community settings, and the use of ‘witnesses’ and witness testimony in educational settings)
We are keen to include authors from different parts of the world. We especially encourage submissions that bring creative practitioners into conversation with academic and/or community-based oral historians and related experts, as well as incorporate authors from a range of career stages. To facilitate this, Bloomsbury has agreed to pay a small honorarium to unsalaried contributors.
If interested, please send a revised title (if relevant), 250-word abstract, brief (3-4 sentence) biography for each proposed author, a list of your oral history publications, and a link to your personal or professional website to alistair.thomson@monash.edu; alexanderfreund9@gmail.com; and erin.jessee@glasgow.ac.uk by 15 February, 2023.
Successful authors will be notified of their abstract’s acceptance by early March and will then be expected to submit their draft chapters for review by 1 October, 2023.