This course engages with the critical issues surrounding oral history and heritage, and the practical means to conduct their own oral history projects in a heritage management context. The course responds to calls in the literature  to embed oral history in heritage practice, and considers the global trend in heritage legislation to more closely consider intangible heritage and social value in both the identification and management of heritage places and collections.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. engage with current debates (nationally and internationally) around memory and place, and the role of memory in identifying and managing heritage sites and collections;
2. conduct oral history interviews, with an eye to creating a record of the varied and changing uses and meanings of places over time; and
3. relate oral history  to heritage practice and the heritage management sector, and articulate its attendant ethical implications.

Required Resources

I will try to make digital recording equipment available via ANU and the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, but this equipment will need to be shared/on rotation while you’re conducting oral history interviews. Alternatively, if you have your own recording equipment, you may use that.

 

However, if you wish for your recording to be deposited and archived by an institution, be aware that they may have format restrictions (WAV not Mp3) and sound quality standards (eg. using your phone will not work for these purposes). Please confirm what these standards and restrictions are before conducting any interviews.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• written comments
• verbal comments
• feedback to whole class, groups, individuals, focus group etc

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Oral History and Heritage – Concepts and Theory: Memory Studies, Intangible Heritage and ‘Social Value’
2	Oral History Ethics and Working with Communities in a Heritage Context	Guest: Adele Chynoweth (ANU Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies) on Traumatic Narratives and Working with Vulnerable People
3	Oral History Practice: Researching and Preparing an Interview for an Oral History Project
4	Oral history practice: interviewing methods, listening and interpretation
5	Oral History and Heritage Identification: Place/Story and the Role of Oral History
6	Potential Projects for your assessment	Guest: Penelope Grist (National Portrait Gallery) on the Fire Museum and Community Collections Guest: Sandy White (Engineering Heritage Canberra), Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station and Apollo 11 anniversary
7	Heritage Management and (onsite) Interpretation today: using oral history	Guest: Amy Jarvis and Jack Dunstan (ANU Heritage) on Mt Stromlo and other ANU Heritage Projects
8	Sound and oral history in museum spaces: sound, oral history and agency	Guest: Mary Hutchison (ANU Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies)
9	Genealogy, family history, and historical societies – challenging ‘nostalgia’ and the politics of affect
10	Workshop: Oral History Projects and Research Essays
11	The Future Oral History and Heritage: Projects and Digital Humanities
12	Student presentations and course summary

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Blog posts	30 %	19/03/2019	03/04/2019	1, 3
Oral History audio, index/log and reflective essay	60 %	08/06/2019	22/06/2019	2, 3
in-class presentation	10 %	28/05/2019	11/06/2019	1, 2, 3

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information 
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Assessment Task 1

Blog posts

Blog posts on Wattle (3 blog posts on Wattle of 500 words each relating to the readings and seminar content) - due in Weeks 4, 7 and 11.

 

Word limit: 500 x 3 (1500)

Value: 30% (10 marks each)

Presentation requirements: uploaded to Wattle. Respond to a question or theme (those that correspond to each week). Your response must engage with the themes and issues discussed in seminars and critically reflect on relevant readings and literature for that tutorial week. Please include references/citations.

Estimated return date: 2 weeks after submission.

Assessment Task 2

Oral History audio, index/log and reflective essay

Assessment Task 2a: Oral history interview audio and timed index/summary log

 

You will be conducting your own oral history interview with an interviewee as part of a contribution to an existing project or collection – please see the table above to pick a project/collection. You can begin by conducting secondary research around the period/place/event that most concerns your interviewee and the project to which you will be contributing. You will need to contact the relevant person administering the project to get in contact with potential interviewees. Again, please see the table above. It is your responsibility to organise your interview and to communicate clearly with your interviewee, before the interview, as to the aims and outcomes of your interview with them. This transparent process will be discussed in class. Please note, however, that the relevant administering organisation (eg. ANU Heritage, or Engineers Australia) will have their own Information Sheets, Consent Forms and processes for depositing interview recordings.

 

Details of task 2a:

 

1.    An audio copy of your interview recording (uploaded to Wattle, or, if too big, submitted to the course coordinator via a URL link)

a.    And of course remember to submit it to the relevant institution/project for which it was conducted (eg. Fire Museum, Engineers Australia etc).

2.    A timed index of your oral history interview. The index must include: place names, proper nouns and other names, important events or dates—all timed, and formatted in a table. Examples will be distributed in seminars. Some projects (like Engineers Australia) will already have a template that you must use for you index (or ‘interview log’ – see Wattle documents).

 

Accompanied by

 

Assessment Task 2b: Reflective Essay

 

Details of task 2b:

 

3.    Reflective Essay of 3000 words max.

4.    Questions to consider in your essays:

a.    First, offer a wider historical narrative and context for this oral history interview – how does it contribute to/fit in with the wider project? (eg. Whether it be the heritage work around Old Land’s End, or the collection building at the Fire Museum, or the interpretation at Mt Stromlo)

b.    Does the interview identify any cultural landscapes or places that are of ‘significance’ / have ‘social value’? (according to Burra Charter principles).

c.    How does the interview/parts of the interview tie in (or contradict) other popular or official historical narratives about the time/place/event?

 

Word limit (where applicable): 3000

Value: 60% (30% audio and log / 30% essay)

Hurdle Assessment requirements: all 3 parts of this assessment must be submitted in order to pass

Estimated return date: two weeks after submission

 

Assessment Task 3

in-class presentation

During our last lecture in Week 12, you’ll be given the opportunity to present on your work throughout semester. Please speak for 10 minutes detailing the research, approach and outcomes of your oral history project, paying particular attention to your interviewee and the contribution you’ve made to the wider heritage project, and the social values identified.

Submit your powerpoint presentation to Wattle after you’ve given your presentation/

Value: 10%

Estimated return date: two weeks after submission

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Individual assessment tasks may or may not allow for late submission. Policy regarding late submission is detailed below:

• Late submission not permitted. If submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date is not permitted, a mark of 0 will be awarded.
• Late submission permitted. Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students