ARTH 450 Advanced Seminar in the History of Art and Architecture: The Voice of the Living Artist - Oral History and Art History

• Mondays, 3:00-5:30pm
• EV-3-760
• Instructor: Dr. Cynthia Hammond

Art History as a discipline places importance on the skills of visual analysis, social and historical contextualization, and the application of theoretical models to works of art. Oral history, in contrast, is a method that privileges the voice of the interviewee over that of the researcher, seeking to make space in the academy for knowledge and perspectives that might otherwise go unheard. The key tool that oral historians use is the one-to-one interview. What might interviews in particular and oral history more broadly bring to an art historical project? This seminar-style course invites students to discover the methods and ethics of oral history. Students will learn how to submit an ethics application, how to prepare for an interview, and how to use interview materials. Students will interview and research local artists and architects whose importance in the art and architectural worlds of Montreal has yet to be fully addressed.