Oral/Public History Students Collaborate with Fine Arts Professors to Create Beta-Audio WalkTour of Point Saint Charles

Congratulations to both Steven High and those students enrolled in this fall's Working Class Public History seminar, the "Public History Workshop," which is the capstone course in our undergraduate honours public history program. This fall, these students had the opportunity to work with faculty members in both theatre (Ted Little) and art history  (Cynthia Hammond) as part of the "Right to the City" initiative. Funded by a Concordia pedagogical grant, the 17 oral/public history students were based at Share the Warmth, a community organization focused on food security in this working-class neighbourhood. Working with a sound artist and a graphic designer, the students produced an hour long beta-audio walk based on 20 interviews with residents of Point Saint Charles and a 44 page booklet.  It was a huge job. The published final versions of each will be launched this coming May. Saturday's launch drew 150 people, including many in Concordia's upper administration. 

For a taste of their work, see a short 3 minute video produced by Cynthia Hammond  http://vimeo.com/113236371  as well as the project's website hosted by the Atwater Library at http://righttothecity.atwaterlibrary.ca/

Nora E. Jaffary
Associate Professor and Chair