Miranda and Nicolette understand that starting an oral history project can be daunting. We want to equip you with the essentials, from project documentation like consent forms, to the technology you need (yes we include simple and free options!), and the must-do interview techniques. You’ll leave the workshop feeling confident, empowered, motivated, and with practical interviewing experience. You’ll also receive extra resources such as our top-pick websites and reading materials – which we use and recommend – so you know where to go if you get stuck. We believe learning is best done when it’s collaborative, fun, hands-on, and with time for questions and discussions, including our greatest bloopers so you can learn from them too! Everyone welcome – no oral history experience required.

Presenter bios:

Dr Miranda Francis: Miranda is a consulting historian who specialises in the history of motherhood and family. When interviewing family members, she noticed conflicting family migration stories, and this sparked an enduring interest in personal memory and oral history. Miranda’s PhD thesis, Mothers Remember: An Oral History, was based on life history interviews and in 2024 she will be part of the interviewing team for the National Library of Australia’s COVID-19 oral history project. She is a sessional history teacher and Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Humanities and Social Science at La Trobe University and currently an ACU Historical Children’s Book Collections Fellow. Contact Miranda: M.Francis@latrobe.edu.au

Dr Nicolette Snowden: Nicolette is an independent historian, researcher, and facilitator. She has undertaken oral history interviews for State Library Victoria, as a consulting historian, and Monash University, focusing on life history interviews and research related to women’s history, labour history, regional and rural experiences, and natural disasters. Like Miranda, Nicolette will be a part of the National Library of Australia’s COVID-19 oral history interview team for 2024. Nicolette’s PhD, We live here too: gender, class and ethnicity in an oral history of women in the Latrobe Valley, included oral history interviews to uncover distinct stories about the lives of women in a rural coal-mining community. She also teaches journalism in the university sector and delivers bespoke interview training. Nicolette’s current research work includes recording journalist’s experiences reporting on climate disasters and Australian political cartooning. Connect with Nicolette at LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nicolette-snowden/

Venue: North Melbourne Library, 66 Errol Street North Melbourne.

Tickets: for information about ticket prices and registration visit our Humanitix listing.