The 2008 annual Summer Institute on Oral History, "Oral History, Advocacy and the Law," will focus on the rich intersections between oral history, advocacy work and the law. Drawing upon themes that emerged from our 2007 Summer Institute on oral history and human rights, the 2008 institute will explore the parallel uses of oral history and legal testimony in the classical definition of advocacy as "finding and giving" voice. Case studies will include the uses of oral history in legal advocacy work in capital crimes proceedings, land claims work involving oral memory in indigenous communities and the use of oral history to document violations of civil liberties in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The Institute will also include presentations on the role of oral history in documenting legal reform work. Workshops will include training for interviewing vulnerable and traumatized families/communities, developing archives of cultural memory, and using digital technology to record and preserve interviews.

Faculty will include Gerry Albarelli, Peter Bearman, Mary Marshall Clark, John Grele, Ronald Grele, Scharlette Holdman, Manning Marable, Peter Maguire, Roxsana Patel, Alessandro Portelli, Michael Ratner, Steve Rowland, Linda Shopes, Amy Starecheski, and Winona Wheeler.

Tuition for the 2 week institute will be $1500, and low-cost housing on campus will be made available to fellows. The deadline for application is April 24, 2008. The application and program can be found online here: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/oral/index.html