Oral Conference History in Montreal

In October, MDOCS hit the road to Montreal, taking six students to the Oral History Association annual conference. Along for the ride were four team members of the WSPN show, “Pass The Mic,” Amanda Peckler ’20, Cristal Maria ’20, Ajani Otieno-Rudek ’20, and Sanjna Selvarajan ’21, WSPN General Manager Adam Simon ’19, and recent alumna Emily Rizzo ’18 who was presenting at the conference with MDOCS Director Adam Tinkle about a summer collaborative research project.

As it goes with conferences, we left with our brains filled with inspiration, information, and a deeper understanding of the practices of oral history and the delicate balance in the relationship between narrator and interviewer. Topics ranged from the qualitative methods of building an accessible and useable online archive to the importance of including “common/local” knowledge in the woven tapestry of historical records in order to gain a deeper understanding of the past.

“This trip helped show me just how important archiving stories and events is, specifically in the context of what we aim to do through Pass The Mic to serve underrepresented communities on-campus... Before the trip, I was mostly concerned with our current audience and current listeners, but now I understand the importance of our platform as an archive as well.” – Ajani Otieno-Rudek ’20

All students on the trip have had a direct hand in the past and present of WSPN, and a special tour through CKUT, an independent radio station located on the McGill campus, proved especially inspiring.

“I loved visiting CKUT, the college radio station at McGill University. Being the General Manager at WSPN and an engaged DJ for all of my time here [at Skidmore], it was fascinating to see how this station runs, the types of programming they produce, and the history and atmosphere of their space. It was inspiring in a lot of ways, but also it's just plain cool to see another functioning station and get a little glimpse of life there.” - Adam Simon ’19

 

There is no doubt experiences off-campus such as this, allowing students to engage with experts in their field, will have far-reaching impacts on their remaining time here at Skidmore and in their professional life. Students not only had the chance to mingle with professionals, but they formed relationships that are bound to seed future collaborations and opportunities in the years to come.

“In addition to the intellectual scholarly rigorousness of these various settings, forging personal connections with professionals in these fields was inspiring and may be tangibly important in my future endeavors.” - Adam Simon ’19

- Written by Jesse O'Connell, MDOCS Program Coordinator