​​Tell me more: Oral History Bridging Intergenerational Silence

This event is open to participants that are Vietnamese and Southeast Asian.This workshop introduces strategies to elicit storytelling between different generations, particularly focusing on refugee and vulnerable communities that have experienced traumatic displacements and loss. The workshop will center the basic principles of oral history, with a strong focus on the ethics of recording life stories for long-term preservation and public access. From introducing participants to a brief overview of how oral histories have been collected, the workshop will offer recommendations and best practices for digital audio or video recording in both in-person and remote capacities. Additionally, participants will be introduced to related documentation strategies that help build up community-centered archives for marginalized groups, such as photovoice and storytelling through recipes.

Dr. Thuy Vo Dang has over 20 years of experience conducting oral histories and designing documentation projects, including teaching methods for capturing the “bottom-up” perspectives often left out of history books. She has given numerous workshops and presentations on oral histories and community archives around the country and consults on regional and transnational community-based and scholarly projects. Her approach is grounded in community-centered archival practice, which seeks to build equitable partnerships with communities whose histories are absent from mainstream archives.

SCHEDULE:

- 11 am - Arrive & receive light refreshments (Vietnamese coffee and steamed rice rolls)

~ Workshop in session~

- 1 pm - End of Session. Option to join us for lunch!

Thuy Vo Dang (she/her/hers) is an oral historian and professor of Information Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA where she co-directs the Community Archives Lab. She holds a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, San Diego and a B.A. in English and Asian American Studies from Scripps College. Her previous role was Curator for the UCI Libraries Southeast Asian Archive and Research Librarian for Asian American Studies. With research and teaching expertise in oral history, Southeast Asian diaspora, community archives, and cultural memory, Thuy brings an interdisciplinary approach to co-creating digital humanities and archival documentation projects with educators and community-based organizations. Her current research and community engagement work center "refugee archival praxis" through the storytelling strategies of first and second generation Vietnamese in the diaspora. She is coauthor of the books A People’s Guide to Orange County (2022) and Vietnamese in Orange County (2015) and has published in Amerasia Journal, Journal of Asian American Studies, AAPI Nexus: Policy, Practice and Community, Health Promotion Practice, History Now: the Journal, Ethnic Studies in Academic and Research Libraries, and Toward a Framework for Vietnamese American Studies.Thuy serves on the board of directors for Arts Orange County and the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association.

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