ENGL 364 - Intro to Writing Oral History

Unit(s): 4

In this service-learning course, students will discuss and grapple with the issues and responsibilities of collecting and creating oral histories, nonfiction narratives and profiles. Proceeding from the premise that ordinary people have within them extraordinary stories, students will study the craft of the interview and the oral history, and discuss inherent issues of documentation, exploitation, confidentiality, authorship and more. In class, students will read published examples of oral histories, practice interview techniques and discuss supplementary research methods as they collect, transcribe, edit and revise “untold stories” in a variety of forms. This class is also a designated Service Learning (SL) class. Each student will dedicate a minimum of 25 hours during the semester to service.

Prerequisite: ENGL 192 or ENGL 195
College of Arts and Sciences