Past, Present, and Future Oral History Recording Project

This program engages students in a multi-disciplinary residency that begins with West African drumming workshops, linking the tradition of storytelling and oral history to West African traditions that used music and drumming as an integral part of conveying a story. The students then engage in oral history interviewing and writing workshops. Students use hand-held recorders at home to interview family members and friends. Students also interview each other and record the interviews in the classroom. Looking to the future, the students write essays about their hopes for the future. Students work with a recording arts specialist from PAA that will guide students in creating a dynamic "sound collage" that will include recordings the students have made with family, friends, other students, and themselves. They will use "found sounds" from the community and will also record their West African drumming pieces to complement their oral history sound collages. Each student will leave the residency with a unique recorded CD.