Valuing oral history in the community

Abstract

Valuing Oral History in the community has developed out of the University’s involvement in the Wolverhampton Black and Ethnic Minority Experience Project (BEME). BEME is a collaborative project developed by a range of local community groups, the local council, colleges and the University which was established to document the experiences of members of the Black and Ethnic Minority communities in Wolverhampton in the post-war period. The rationale behind BEME was to create a community-based Oral History video archive and to promote the use of this unique source of community-based knowledge within a range of educational settings, to encourage curriculum development and enhance the learning experience of students. The aims of the innovation developed from my work with the BEME project, my own and others’ experiences of the value of doing Oral History with undergraduates and the desire to encourage the development of a more inclusive and diverse curriculum for the 21st century. Out of these aims three key objectives were developed.