Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling

Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling Concordia University's Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS) - Centre d'histoire

Le Centre d'histoire orale et de récits numérisés (CHORN) à l'Université Concordia est un établissement dont la mission est de répondre aux besoins de ses membres dont des chercheurs universitaires, des étudiants du premier cycle et des cycles supérieurs ainsi que des praticiens communautaires et artistes qui sont engagés dans la recherche en histoire orale.
---
The Centre for Oral History and Di

gital Storytelling (COHDS) at Concordia University is a facility dedicated to providing services to faculty members, graduate students, senior undergraduates, and community members who are engaged in oral history research. Co-directed by / co-dirigé par Sébastien Caquard and / et Luis Sotelo Castro

Oral history interviews are often described as conversations. But what happens when the narrator and interviewer leave t...
06/04/2026

Oral history interviews are often described as conversations. But what happens when the narrator and interviewer leave the same interview with entirely different experiences?

Drawing from her forthcoming book Learning to Listen, Martha Norkunas invites participants to examine the complexities of listening in oral history practice. Based on years of listening journals written by graduate students, this workshop explores why miscommunications occur, how meaning is negotiated during interviews, and what we can learn from moments of misunderstanding.

Together, participants will discuss body language, voice inflection, pacing, and the often nonverbal negotiations that shape what is shared, what remains unspoken, and who determines what is appropriate to discuss. Participants will also be invited to reflect on challenging situations that have emerged in their own interviews and consider the cultural, ethical, and interpersonal dimensions of listening.

🕮 ✎𓂃 Please note that participants are required to read Chapter Ten, "Complexities in Listening," from Martha Norkunas's forthcoming book prior to the workshop. The chapter will be provided upon registration.

𖥔 June 11 | 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
𖥔 LB-1019 (Sunroom), COHDS
𖥔 Free and open to all (registration required through our website)

COHDS/ALLAB is located on unceded Kanien’kehá territory, in Tiohtiá/Montreal.

Much of oral history research begins with recording memories. But how do we make sense of the stories we collect? How do...
06/04/2026

Much of oral history research begins with recording memories. But how do we make sense of the stories we collect? How do we move from memory to history?

Drawing on over four decades of teaching and practicing oral history, Alistair Thomson will explore a range of approaches to interpreting interviews and memories. Together, participants will consider how researchers have understood memory as a historical source, the many factors that shape personal narratives, and the ethical questions that arise when interpreting the lives and stories of others.

Through interview excerpts from Alistair's work with migrants and war veterans, the workshop will introduce methods of narrative analysis that attend to voice, gesture, language, and storytelling. Participants will also explore ways of identifying broader historical themes across multiple interviews and leave with practical tools, ideas, and readings to support their own oral history projects.

𖥔 June 10 | 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
𖥔 LB-1019 (Sunroom), COHDS
𖥔 Free and open to all (registration required through our website)

COHDS/ALLAB is located on unceded Kanien’kehá territory, in Tiohtiá/Montreal.

COHDS Tech Corner . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁When it comes to capturing strong audio, what you hear matters just as much as what you...
06/04/2026

COHDS Tech Corner . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

When it comes to capturing strong audio, what you hear matters just as much as what you record. The TASCAM TH-05 headphones offer an accessible, reliable way to monitor sound with clarity, making them a go-to choice for COHDS-affiliated projects.

Designed for recording, editing, and critical listening, these headphones deliver a clean, balanced, and honest representation of your audio, helping you catch subtle details and make confident decisions in the field or in the lab.

The TH-05 headphones are built with usability in mind. Their closed-back, over-ear design provides isolation from surrounding noise while minimizing sound bleed, essential when recording interviews or working in shared spaces. Here at COHDS we have upwards of 50 headphones available for our affiliates.

Whether you need one pair to shoot an interview or 15 pairs for an oral history exhibition, we’ve got you!

COHDS Tech Corner . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁The Sennheiser MKE 600 is a professional-grade shotgun microphone designed for high-qua...
05/14/2026

COHDS Tech Corner . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

The Sennheiser MKE 600 is a professional-grade shotgun microphone designed for high-quality location recording. Ideal for interviews, oral histories, and documentary work, the MKE 600 delivers focused, directional sound while effectively minimizing background noise, making it especially reliable in less-than-perfect acoustic environments.

Its super-cardioid/lobar pickup pattern ensures clear voice capture when mounted on a boom pole or camera, and its low self-noise provides clean, broadcast-ready audio. The MKE 600 can be powered via phantom power or AA battery, offering flexibility for a variety of recording setups.

We’re pleased to offer the Sennheiser MKE 600 free to rent for all COHDS affiliates. Whether you're conducting an on-site interview or enhancing your video production workflow, this mic is a dependable addition to your kit.

To reserve the MKE 600 for your next project, visit the equipment booking page on our website!

An inspiring afternoon exploring Hungarian foodways, oral histories, and intergenerational memory through the making of ...
05/13/2026

An inspiring afternoon exploring Hungarian foodways, oral histories, and intergenerational memory through the making of palacsintá.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this warm and generous gathering. 🥞✨

Much of oral history interview preparation rightly (and evidently) revolves around the audio and visual recording of the...
04/27/2026

Much of oral history interview preparation rightly (and evidently) revolves around the audio and visual recording of the event. But what happens when the narrator brings their personal archives into the interview space?

Drawing from Monica Muñoz Martinez’s “vernacular history making,” personal archives are the objects—photos, drawings, notes, documents, digital creations—that individuals collect to preserve historical perspectives which may not be considered by institutional archives. This workshop envisions these moments of sharing as opportunities to learn with the narrator; despite the surprise they may bring.

How do you include these objects in the interview? How do you record their presence? How might a researcher design ethics around this possibility? Garcia and Currie-Williams will discuss their experiences interviewing individuals who brought more to the interview than what was expected, and how they effectively included these materials in their dialogue.

𖥔 30 avril | 2 - 4 pm
𖥔 LB-1019 (Sunroom), CHORN
𖥔 Gratuit et ouvert à tous (avec réservation à partir de notre site)
Le CHORN/ALLAB sont situés sur le territoire non-cédé de Kanien’kehá:ka à Tiohtiá:ke/Montréal

A Global History of Childhood : Public History exhibitYou are warmly invited to visit our pop-up exhibit “A Global Histo...
04/22/2026

A Global History of Childhood : Public History exhibit

You are warmly invited to visit our pop-up exhibit “A Global History of Childhood,” hosted at Concordia’s “Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling” this coming Thursday, April 23, 2:00-5:00 p.m.

In twenty lovingly curated exhibition panels, first-year history students have traced oral histories of childhood and youth in rural New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Quebec, Mozambique, Georgia, Indonesia, Brazil, Belgium, France, Romania, Haïti, Congo, United States, and Côte d’Ivoire. Each interview partner was invited to bring to the conversation an object of memory. Those material objects were as rich and diverse as the memories recounted.

What was it like to move to the city on your own – at the tender age of twelve – so that you could attend school? How did networks of informal foster care help families survive in times of economic and personal distress? How did young people in the twenty-first century navigate grave illness? As one member of our class observed, such “small stories” matter.

The pop-up exhibition is hosted at Concordia’s “Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling,” Library Building, 10th Floor, Rooms LB-1042 and LB-1019 (1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West). Brief opening remarks will be delivered at 2:30 p.m. by the exhibit’s creators and curators. Student researchers will be on site to reflect on their work, share interview recordings, and answer your questions.

Address

1400 BoUlica De Maisonneuve Ouest, LB-1042
Montreal, QC
H3G1M8

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+15148482424

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling:

Shortcuts

Share