OHMA Degree Requirements

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
To complete the Master of Arts degree in Oral History at Columbia University, students take a minimum of 30 points of graduate courses credit, which includes an M.A. thesis. Specific requirements are listed below.

1. Completion of Four Core Courses
(note: 2 of these core courses are 2 semesters long)

• Oral History Method and Theory G4015 (4 credits)

This interdisciplinary course, taken in the fall semester, is an in-depth introduction to the theoretical writings in oral history on historical research, memory, interviewing methodologies, life history and the application of theoretical paradigms to specific fieldwork problems. Students will identify a field research project in the first three weeks of the semester and address the dynamics of the interview and fieldwork situation through theoretical analysis of the historic context in which the interview takes place. Students will also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of interviewing methods as they apply to existing disciplinary paradigms. The broader focus of the course is to introduce students to the wide array of theoretical issues raised by the intersection of history, memory and life story narratives in the effort to understand the recent past in relation to critical issues of interpretation in today's world.

• Oral History: Fieldwork, Production and Archiving G4020 & G4021 (6 credits)
  

This is a yearlong course in fieldwork, documentary production and archiving. Students will learn techniques of digital recording, archiving, preservation and editing; conduct interviews in a diverse network of New York City communities and learn about professional standards for conducting ethical research in a variety of interview settings. Fieldwork training will include opportunities to conduct biographical as well as community-based interviews, while exploring questions of individual and social identity in the creation and interpretation of oral histories. Students will work in small groups to apply the techniques of presenting of oral history interviews in written texts, multi-media environments and public presentations.

•  Social Science Contributions to the Analysis of Narrative and Life History G4025 (4 credits)

This course considers the ways in which social scientists can utilize narrative and life history data. The focus throughout is on developing tools for the analysis of narrative and life history and using the analysis of life histories to inform basic problems in social science and historical research. The methodologies that social scientists use to work with sequential data in order to review temporal processes will be considered in some detail. The contexts that will be explored in depth are varied and critically important for the modern time; case histories for medical professionals, stories for human rights workers, historical accounts of complex event sequences, and the processes of becoming—an activist, a revolutionary, a drug-addict, and so on.

• Oral History Workshop G4010 & G4011 (6 credits)

This course is organized as a year-long series of public seminars on the wide range of issues raised by a consideration of how oral history methodologies impact disciplines in the social sciences as well as the humanities. Scholars who have used oral history and narrative analysis in their research will be drawn from the New York area. Students will participate by responding to speakers, and drawing upon their presentations in their own thesis work.

2. Completion of Three Elective Courses
In addition to the core courses, OHMA students take three additional graduate-level courses. Two electives are designed specifically for OHMA students, From Oral History to Literary Narrative, and The Uses of Oral Sources in Socio-Historical Sciences and the Arts. The third elective should be chosen from a discipline related to the student’s research interest. It must be approved by the Program.

3. Completion of Thesis
All students complete an M.A. thesis under the supervision of the student's advisor and the OHMA program directors. Well-prepared students can complete the degree in two semesters, though some prefer to study for three semesters.

Students will be advised by the directors of OHMA, or may choose an advisor from among the Columbia faculty. Some potential advisors are listed here; note, however, that this is not an exhaustive list of potential advisors.