In this unusual and important new work, Miroslav Vanek interviews twelve experts on oral history to discuss the medium’s current status within the social sciences in light of recent technology breakthroughs.Around the Globeaddresses many of the challenges of oral history, from its inherent subjectivity to whether it should be treated as a discipline or simply a method for research. The interviewees also include their own accounts of how they began to study oral history, giving each section of the book a personal element that makes it a unique handbook for anyone using oral history in their research.
Miroslav Vanekteaches at Charles University Prague and is head of the Oral History Center at the Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences. From 2010 to 2012 he was president of International Oral History Association.
1 Preface
2 The reason for a book of interviews?
Researchers in the role of narrators
Spheres of research
How did the interviews continue?
3 A book of interviews
Rina Benmayor
David King Dunaway
Alexander Freund