The Institute for Chinese Studies presents:
Mi Zhao
Associate Professor of History, Yuelu Academy at Hunan University
Visiting Scholar, OSU
Title: Oral History as a Source and Methodology in Research
Flyer: Forthcoming
Abstract: This workshop addresses oral history as both a source and methodology in the study of history and possibly some other disciplines. It treats oral accounts as a process of historical and literary construction that maps the interaction between the past and the present, and between the state and individuals. In other words, it sees individuals’ oral narratives as both historical sources and literary representations. This project refuses the view of treating oral history as an alternative or supplemental material to archival and published records. Rather, it takes oral history as a crucial source and methodology in applying critical approaches to the competing narratives of official and non-official history and to investigate the canonization of literary and performing works.
We will use personal examples to discuss such questions as: 1, what have influenced the interviewees’ narratives? 2, how could and should a researcher transcript and interpret oral accounts? 3, how to deal with conflicting records. Our goal is to reconsider the concepts such as “historical fact,” “official” and “the classics,” and to discuss some methodologies of using oral history in the disciplines that are related to the participants.
This workshop will take the format of discussion rather than lecture. Participants are encouraged to bring your own materials and experiences from your field studies.
Mi Zhao is Associate Professor of History at Hunan University's Yuelu Academy, and a visiting scholar at The Ohio State University. She is an alumnus of Ohio State, receiving an M.A. from the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures. She then went on to a Ph.D. in History at the University of Oregon, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan's Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies. Her research focuses on the interplay of popular culture and politics in modern and early modern China. Particularly, it investigates the changing historiography in changing historical contexts such as the socialist transformation and the “post-socialist” periods.
Registration is required for this event
Refreshments will be provided during the workshop, and spots are limited. Please RSVP at https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d4PKHnzHjzXCzwF
Free and Open to the Public
This event is co-sponsored by the Literature and Folklore in Greater China (LFGC) student organization.The ICS Lecture Series is supported by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant to The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center.