Oral History – Expert meeting & seminar, presented by the Commission for the History and Culture of Jews in the Netherlands (Menasseh Ben Israel Institute), the Huizinga Institute and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW):
Using Audio-Visuals in Memory Studies of the Shoah/Holocaust: New Approaches in a Digital Era
3 December 2013 ** KNAW, Trippenhuis, Amsterdam ** 9:30 – 18:00 hrs
Memory is crucial for Jewish identity and Culture. Stories about the past do not just describe the self – they are the self’s medium of being. They situate us in relation to our families, communities, and traditions, giving shape to our experiences, telling us where we came from and offering guideposts for the future. Immediately after the Shoah/Holocaust Jews have connected with the past by telling about it and by remembrance. But even more important has been to tell the world about what has happened to Jews, as memory can also be a warning.
Those memories have been created in a specific context and are personal. This seminar explores the value of audiovisual and oral collections for the writing of history, while keeping in mind that memories cannot just be used, but, like any other source, must be analyzed and contextualized. The seminar is presented by the Commission for the History and Culture of Jews.
Foto (c) Rainer Hesse.
Participation is free, but please register in advance by submitting the online registration form on the website of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
Schedule:
PDF of the programme
09:00 registration and coffee
09:30 Introduction by Selma Leydesdorff – Professor of Oral History and Culture, University of Amsterdam – Chair: Floor Meijer, Huizinga Institute
09:50 Part I: Keynotes – Chair: Selma Leydesdorff
The Past and Future Uses of Holocaust Testimonies, Noah Shenker – Lecturer in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University
History in Memory, Memory in History: How to take in account collections of testimonies for better analysing Shoah, Denis Peschanski – Professor of History, Center for Twentieth Century Social History, Université de Paris
Using Existing Sources and Generating Sources: Why Oral History Matters, Albert Lichtblau – Chair of the Centre for Jewish Cultural History and Assistant Professor of History, University of Salzburg
Discussion
12:15 LUNCH
13:15 Part II: Varieties of archives and ways to work – Chair: Nanci Adler – Division head holocaust and genocide studies, NIOD-KNAW Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam
Return and reception of Jewish survivors: testimonies collections as historical source, Dienke Hondius – Assistant Professor of Contemporary History, VU University Amsterdam
Teaching with testimonies: international coursework using Skype, Dawn Skorczewsky – Fullbright Scholar, Free University Amsterdam and Brandeis University
“Hide and seek” – the use of oral history material preparing an exhibition in the Jewish Historical Museum, Hetty Berg – Curator, Jewish Historical Museum
The use of existing material while researching Alexander Pechersky the leader of the Sobibor revolt, Selma Leydesdorff – Professor of Oral History and Culture, University of Amsterdam
15:00 coffee & tea break
15:30 Part III: Presentations
Paula Witkamp – Project Manager, Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS-KNAW)
Lonnie Stegink – Project Manager, Shoah Visual History Archive, Jewish Historical Museum
Puck Huitsing – Director of Collections & Services, NIOD-KNAW Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies
16:15 Panel discussion: Oral History, Testimony, Life story – with: Nanci Adler, Dienke Hondius, Paula Witkamp – Chair: Puck Huitsing
16:45 Closing remarks by Selma Leydesdorff
17:00 RECEPTION, on the occasion of the 40-year jubilee of prof. dr. Selma Leydesdorff – co-sponsored by the dept. of Arts, Religion and Culture, University of Amsterdam
Conference committee
Dienke Hondius, Puck Huitsing, Lonnie Stegink, Selma Leydesdorff
Partners and sponsors
Commission for the History and Culture of Jews in the Netherlands (Menasseh Ben Israel Institute);
Huizinga Institute, National Research School for Cultural History;
KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy for the Arts and Sciences);
Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam;
Digital Heritage Research Group, Amsterdam Centre for Cultural Heritage and Identity;
Maatschappij tot Nut der Israelieten;
Levi Lassen Foundation;
Stichting Democratie en Media;
Department of Arts, Religion, Culture, University of Amsterdam.
Location
Het Trippenhuis
Kloveniersburgwal 29
1011 JV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
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