Oral History and Identity: Developing an Oral History Curriculum for First-Generation College Students

FAIN: ASB-299729-24

St. Edward's University (Austin, TX 78704-6425)
Jena Heath (Project Director: October 2023 to present)
Emily Bernate (Co Project Director: October 2023 to present)

A two-year curricular project to develop a two-course sequence in oral history.

Oral History and Identity: Developing an Oral History Curriculum for First-Generation College Students is designed to fill a gap in the Humanities curriculum and expand the Digital Storytelling major at St. Edward’s University. Because the university’s History major does not include oral history, students will be trained in oral history as part of a new Humanities major, Digital Storytelling and Content Creation (DSCC). Students enrolled in this major now take one audio storytelling course. This existing class will be redesigned and a second class added, expanding the major and introducing oral history into the curriculum. The goal is to create an oral history curriculum rooted in Digital Storytelling that empowers first-generation students by helping them to amplify voices that have been traditionally marginalized in the historical narrative.