FGV hosts 22nd International Oral History Conference; now accepting submissions

Twenty-five years after holding the 10thInternational Oral History Association (IOHA) Conference, in June 1998, in Rio de Janeiro, Fundação Getulio Vargas’ School of Social Sciences (FGV CPDOC) will once again host the world’s foremost meeting of the oral history community. The conference will begin on July 25, at 10 am, in the FGV Cultural Center. On the following days, from July 26 to 28, starting at 10 am, the event will take place In FGV’s 12th floor auditorium.

The 22nd IOHA Conference will examine ways of studying oral history in light of the digital and imagery challenges that have arisen in the early 2020s. The deadline for submitting papers to be presented at the conference is December 1, 2022.

Drastic changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic have affected humanity on a planetary scale. Our globalized society, with its intense movements of people, information and goods, now faces major and unavoidable challenges from the perspectives of social interaction, communication and human coexistence.

Naturally, the theory and practice of oral history has not ignored the impacts of these global transformations. As is well known, the constraints imposed by lockdowns and restrictions on international movements helped accelerate a series of existing technological trends, involving computing devices, the digitalization of knowledge and the ubiquity of images in social life.

Is there no need for physical contact in technology interfaces and mediation? How have new technologies changed interpersonal and intersubjective relationships between interviewer and interviewee? To what extent have new computer and audiovisual resources affected the way people’s statements are recorded? Will unequal access to technical and scientific tools further widen the gap between oral history practitioners in the Global North and South?

In line with IOHA guidelines, the event will take place in both English and Spanish. Panel discussions and presentations will be structured around a variety of key themes related to oral history, both traditional and innovative.

There are three submission categories:

1. Paper; 

2. Video or audiovisual product;

3. Workshop. 

For more information about signing up and submitting proposals, click here.