Life history and life writing research uses life story - whether in the form of oral history, personal narrative, autobiography or biography - as a primary source for the study of history and culture.
Life history and life writing research uses life story - whether in the form of oral history, personal narrative, autobiography or biography - as a primary source for the study of history and culture. Life stories capture the relation between the individual and society, the local and the national, the past and present and the public and private experience. Research involves grappling with theories of memory, relationship and self representation, and with debates about literacy and orality. Many disciplines contribute to the field, including history, sociology, anthropology, literary philosophy, cultural studies and psychology. Life history and life writing researchers present their work in many forms. As well as academic publications, we contribute to radio and television documentaries, auto/biographical drama, reminiscence work, digital and video presentations and exhibitions. Life history and life writing research is, of necessity, concerned with ethics and power relationships, and with the potential for advocacy and empowerment.
CLHLWR Director becomes patron of QueenSpark Books
Dr Margaretta Jolly, Director of the Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research and University of Sussex academic and oral historian, has become a patron of Brighton community publisher QueenSpark Books.
- Read the full news story
- 'Brighton Transformed': Capturing the lives of local transgender people, a new QueenSpark books project
CLHLWR hosts Oral History Society in groundbreaking conference on Corporate Voices, 5-6 July 2013
All images: Stuart Robinson
Corporate Voices: Institutional and Organisational Oral Histories
Fulton Building, University of Sussex, 5-6 July 2013
Keynote speakers: Bruce Weindruch, Founder & CEO of The History Factory, USA, and Professor AbdelAziz EzzelArab, Director of the Economic and Business History Research Center Oral Histories Collection at The American University of Cairo
Updates
- Hearing Her: New Feminist Oral Histories, 11 April 2013 [PDF 288.77KB]
- Silver Action at the Tate Modern, 3 February 2013: Open call
- Honouring Mary McIntosh, 1936-2013 at Lesbian Lives conference, 15-16 February 2013
- Hospital memories brought back to life
- Mass Observation anniversary conference: call for papers
- The University of Sussex Oral History project and the story of the Meeting House
- Sisterhood and After: The Women's Liberation Oral History Project