Instructors: Suzanne Snider
Location: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies (Portland, ME)
Tuition: $2350 (Standard/Independent); $2800 (Institutional/Supporter)
Oral History Summer School, in partnership with Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, presents our first Oral History Intensive in Portland, Maine.
Come all ye budding oral historians, radio documentarians, writers, filmmakers, media advocates, and photographers who wish to make use of oral history in your practices. This immersive workshop is a rigorous introduction to the field of oral history. Over the course of 7 days, we’ll cover interview techniques, project design, and recording tutorials, plus sessions dedicated to ethics, trauma, advocacy, archives, and other related topics. This workshop is a great opportunity to jump-start a project in a supportive environment, or to get this training under your belt for future projects with the benefit of deadlines and peer critique. Participants will be conducting interviews throughout this long weekend. No experience is necessary.
We’ll be in residence this June at a unique location, Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at Maine College of Art and Design (MECA&D). We’re honored to make Salt Institute a summer HQ, viewing the program–its immersive approach to documentary skills and ethics– as kindred to OHSS’s central project.
Housing: The Salt campus can accommodate up to 13 participants in a combination of single and double rooms priced well below ‘market rate’ in Portland. Local participants may choose to commute (with a small commuter/facilities fee). For those travelers wishing to stay off-site, please be warned that this is high season in Portland and you should check availability and prices of local alternatives well in advance. (You can check prices on AirBnb, or search hotels in the surrounding area.)
Health: Covid/safety protocols will be in place. All participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted (Those unable to be vaccinated may contact OHSS about alternate precautions) and will agree to test into the workshop with two rapid tests and will agree to test during, with a frequency determined by OHSS closer to June as we monitor Covid-related news. You can read more about our emerging Covid policy for Summer 2023 below.
TUITION (does not include housing):
Both summer workshops have been priced with a sliding scale. For your convenience, we have offered some guidelines below to help you identify which tuition tier might be most appropriate for your budget. Please reach out if you need more help in assessing a best match for your circumstances.
INSTITUTIONAL/SUPPORTER TUITION: $2800
My organization, university, or employer is paying for my tuition; funds are not an obstacle for me to attend this training; I want to support OHSS and am able to pay a higher price for the workshop.
STANDARD/INDEPENDENT TUITION: $2350
I am employed full-time and/or have other access to resources; tuition is not a significant barrier to me attending this workshop.
Fellowships: This summer, we’re able to offer two fellowships in the form of tuition-free workshop seats to Portland-area residents. We are especially excited to support community-based work with priority given to BIPOC applicants. To apply for a fellowship, please fill out the questions at the end of this application form.
Those wishing to apply for a fellowship who do not live in the Portland area may fill out the additional fellowship questions, below, with a note that you are not local but wish to be considered. We will keep applications in mind for future workshops, as well.
ABOUT TUITION: Tuition covers 7 days of instruction, OHSS tote bag, OHSS workbook, OHSS folder/forms, OHSS notebook, OHSS e-reader and other digital resources, use of recording equipment during workshops, a certificate of completion plus access to alumni newsletters/network, an extended trial/purchase discount from Hindenburg Systems editing software, a few group meals along with snacks and daily morning/afternoon coffee & tea service.
Transparency statement: We have calculated our tuition tiers with a commitment to fair labor practices, scholarships and our school’s future. These commitments are reflected in necessary tuition hikes.
We seek to educate all participants about our overhead expenses so they might appreciate how we arrive at these numbers–and/or learn more about starting independent schools and institutes (We hope to see more). The line items that figure into the current tuition tiers include: site rental, administrative hours/wages, food from local businesses, curriculum development, teaching hours, printing, office supplies and recording equipment, honorarium for guest instructors if relevant, staff housing, staff travel (train/gas), staff food during the workshop, documentation/photography, Covid tests and masks for staff, event insurance and a fellowship fund. These are just some of the expenses that go into the overall creation of this workshop. Collectively, we incur additional expenses that we do not expect participants to cover, including childcare, research materials, and professional development to name a few. This year, we have paid special attention to these calculations, working backwards from our operating budget so we can confidently look ahead. Additionally, we learned more intimately over the last three years the way this school, which serves 200-400 people a year, relies on the labor of a very few people (with the support of many); we now understand the necessity of an emergency fund for our school and/or staff to ensure our longevity.
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HOUSING:
DOUBLE OCCUPANCY: $100/night for double occupancy rooms ($700 total)
SINGLE OCCUPANCY: $140/night for single occupancy rooms ($980 total)
We have a limited number of below market rate rooms for workshop participants. These will be offered first come, first serve to admitted applicants (Those willing to share a double room will be given priority.)
Students who are not staying on-site will be asked to contribute a $150 commuter fee for use of Salt’s facilities and other spaces OHSS secures on our workshop’s behalf. All commuter participants are welcome to hang out onsite during the course of our workshop.
A detailed schedule will be provided ahead of time for participants.
Application Period Opens: February 18
Application Review Period: Rolling, February 20 until the workshop is full (18 students)
Notifications: Applicants will typically hear from OHSS Program Coordinator within two weeks of submitting an application. OHSS will reach out to applicants with any anticipated delays.
Tuition and housing payment are due upon acceptance.
Please note:
Covid/Health: We seek to create an accessible space and opportunity for as many students as possible. This means that we will be creating and following a Covid safety plan that deeply considers a range of health statuses including those who may be immunocompromised or those who will return to immunocompromised family members after the workshop. These protocols include rapid testing prior to group gathering on the first day, utilizing our outdoor location as much as possible, weather permitting, and practicing indoor masking when not eating/drinking if the local numbers recommend such precautions. We recognize that these measures reduce but do not eliminate the health risk of congregating in person at this time. Oral History Summer School will make decisions on the precise protocol this spring. We acknowledge the pandemic as a serious ongoing public health crisis. We will continue to offer online workshops for those who find travel, unmasked meals or the physical demands of a classroom a barrier to oral history training. We will take measures including those listed above to reduce risk for those attending in person. Please consider these group agreements as you make any plans towards joining us this summer. Please be in touch with any questions about our stance.
Cancellation Policy: As a small organization, we maintain a strict cancellation policy. Tuition is non-refundable and non-transferable. We are working hard to make an in-person workshop possible during a global pandemic. We ask participants to make their travel arrangements with Covid-related contingencies in mind. Given the workshop’s built-in considerations around Covid, we fully expect to run the workshop regardless of the pandemic’s twists and turns over the next few months. That said, we acknowledge that participants may have a range of responses to the risk involved in travel. While we cannot refund tuition/housing, we encourage you to get travel insurance if you need flexibility.