The research project ‘(Re-)Tracing History. New Methodologies for Making the Past Tangible, Palpable and Negotiable’ has been awarded 150 000 euros from the Dutch research agenda (i.e. Nationale Wetenschapsagenda) within the route Living History. Norah Karrouche (History Department) and Arno van der Hoeven (Media and Communication Department) will work on one of its three sub-projects.
Three teams of researchers at Utrecht University, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Radboud University Nijmegen will develop innovative methods that make overlooked or ignored traces of the past tangible, palpable, and negotiable, in order to defuse tensions in society and enrich public debate. They will do so in co-creation with citizens and societal partners, focusing on oral histories (Erasmus University), dance and embodiment (Radboud University), and interactive technologies (Utrecht University). Official secretary on behalf of the consortium is Hester Dibbits.
The sub-project of Norah Karrouche and Arno van der Hoeven, ‘Stories in motion: oral history as sustainable data in urban settings’, seeks to develop, analyse and evaluate methods for making oral histories accessible as sustainable resources for citizens and a range of stakeholders in urban settings. Oral history projects are generally conducted in communities which may have been overlooked by traditional archival institutions, and around issues that may fall outside the scope of many collection policies. These oral histories are often not stored or curated in a sustainable manner after projects end. From June 2021 onwards, Arno van der Hoeven and Norah Karrouche will develop a model for collecting and enriching oral history data, making these data accessible through standards for data interoperability, and reusing oral histories to generate knowledge on societal issues in urban settings. They will do so in collaboration with several (local) partners: Dona Daria, Stadsarchief Rotterdam, DIG IT UP, CLARIAH and Geschiedenislab.
Norah Karrouche is a senior researcher at Erasmus Studio and the department of History (ESHCC). She specializes in historical culture in Morocco and among North African communities in Europe. She is particularly interested in the uses of oral history in migration research, both as fieldwork method and as research ethic. Within CLARIAH WP5, she is responsible for the integration of oral history collections in the CLARIAH Media Suite, a digital environment that enables research into historical and contemporary audio(visual) sources. Norah served as advisor to the heritage committee of the Mondriaan Fund from 2009 until 2013.
Arno van der Hoeven is an Assistant Professor in the department of Media and Communication (ESHCC). His research focuses on the contributions of media and culture to urban development. He initiated a project on Online Urban Heritage in collaboration with Het Nieuwe Instituut and DEN (knowledge institute for culture & digitalisation), which studied how participatory media change people’s engagement with the urban past. Arno serves as advisor to the heritage committee of the Mondriaan Fund from 2021 onwards.