Stay updated on news, activities, and new projects from the Oral History Lab.
EnglishEspañolEnglish OHL Librarian Natalia Hernández Mejías has recently published a review in the journal Acceso about the third edition of the of Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Cultural Heritage Materials published by the Federal Agency Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI). In her review, Hernández Mejías highlights key points from this 129-page document that provides information on digitizing a wide range of materials. It is…
EnglishEspañolEnglish Documentarian Guillermo Gómez Álvarez, Lorel Cubano Santiago of Colectivo PerlArte, and OHL Director Ricia Anne Chansky will virtually join the book launch for Terra:Soul published by Porch Water Press at Columbia University. Gómez Álvarez’s new film about PerlArte that was produced by the OHL, La Perla: En Que Vivimos, is featured in the publication. The launch will…
EnglishEspañolEnglish The OHL is excited to be part of the American Studies Association Public Humanities Day at Humanidades Puerto Rico on November 19 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mark your calendar for our presentation, “You Can’t Erase Us: Testimony as Resistance in the Time of Climate Denial” as well as other film screenings, performances, and…
EngllishEspañolEngllish Previous editor of a/b: Auto/Biography Studies and OHL Director, Ricia Anne Chansky was interviewed by the journal’s current General Editor, Lisa Ortiz-Vilarelle, in honor of the publication’s fortieth anniversary. In this discussion, “Ten Years of a/b: An Interview with Ricia Anne Chansky,” Chansky talks about how her foundation in life narrative scholarship has shaped her…
EnglishEspañolEnglish OHL Director Ricia Chansky was interviewed by The Beat: The Blog of Comics Culture about teaching Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez’s popular comic La Borinqueña at UPRM. She says, “It’s really important for students and young people to see reflections of themselves in the literature that they read in class, and it’s important that this is also available…
EnglishEspañolEnglish OHL community partner and collaborator Lorel Cubano was one of 15 people selected nationwide for the 2025 NALAC Leadership Institute cohort. Founder of the Old San Juan Heritage Foundation and the women-led collective Perlarte in La Perla, Cubano’s narrative was featured in Mi María: Surviving the Storm and she has continued to work with…
EnglishEspañolEnglish DPOE-N—in collaboration with UPR Caribe Digital—hosted its third in-person workshop, Introducción al Desarrollo y Preservación de Historias Orales, at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus on May 28 to 30, 2025. The workshop was taught by Oscar Zamora Flores (CENTRO Archivist), José Moralez Benítez (UPRM librarian), and Natalia Hernández Mejías (OHL Librarian)…
EnglishEspañolEnglish Mi María book narrator and OHL Community Programs Manager, Zaira Arvelo Alicea, will help facilitate the Voice of Witness (VOW) workshop, “Narrator Experience + Storytelling Ethics.” As the first session in a three-part VOW series on Oral History Storytelling Skills and Ethics, this online workshop explores “ethics-driven, empathy-based approach to oral history storytelling, with a focus on trauma-informed practices…
EnglishEspañolEnglish OHL Librarian, Natalia Hernandez Mejías, and former OHL intern, Sonny Weeks, presented a paper, “Protecting Oral Histories: Navigating Privacy Challenges in Digital Environments,” at the 2025 ACURIL conference, the biggest library conference in the Caribbean. In addition, Hernandez Mejías also shared a poster titled “Digital Humanities in Puerto Rico: Initiatives and Collaborations of the…
EnglishEspañolEnglish OHL Director Ricia Chansky delivered a keynote address at the International Auto/Biography Association (IABA) Conference 2025, “Story as Resistance: Signs of Life in the Great Silencing.” She also offered a workshop—”Ethics in Interviewing”—and was on a panel for the IABA Students and New Scholars Network and a panel celebrating the 40th anniversary of the journal…
