Deadline 11 May 2026
Oral history is ‘history built around people’ (Paul Thompson). Its methodology is embedded in humanity—it is a person-to-person communication through which the experiences and memories of one are recorded for posterity by another, using best practice tools and techniques. Through oral history, voices are preserved and accents, nuances, vernacular speech, emotive expressions and silences are captured. By recording these very human reactions we can analyse the stories and experiences of diverse groups, including those who in the past have been absent in the historical record.
Underpinning the relationship between interviewer and interviewee are issues of ethics, privacy, permission, informed consent, personal safety, and representation—all principles grounded in authenticity and truth. Rapidly advancing technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be useful and time saving. By incorporating new technology into our practice in a considered and balanced way, we can streamline oral history processes and improve accessibility. Yet AI may also erode the very human connectivity that is integral to oral history interviews and outputs. As AI changes the world around us, oral history practitioners face distinctive challenges: ensuring the security and integrity of data; protecting the personal privacy and safety of interviewees; ensuring copyright, ownership and the authenticity of voice.
We invite papers that consider how new applications, techniques and changes in technology are being used by practitioners in planning, recording, transcribing, archiving, and sharing oral histories. Papers might consider (but are not limited to):
- ethical considerations
- transcription technologies
- challenges underpinning podcasting and videography
- the long-term storage of interviews, and the
- potential consequences of hosting projects online.
Alternatively, we are also looking for papers that reaffirm the values that have always been inherent to oral history as a methodology necessitating human interactivity and authentic storytelling, which recognise the importance of continuing to forge connections and safeguard oral histories for the future.
Requirements
All proposals to present at the conference must be submitted using the conference EasyChair submission portal (see details below) no later than 11 May 2026.
We welcome proposals for presentations in a variety of formats and media, including standard paper presentations (typically 20 minutes); short ‘lightning’ accounts of work in progress (typically 5 minutes); participatory workshops; performances; or thematic panels comprising several presenters. Presentations should involve oral history.
If you would like to discuss the format or focus of your presentation before you submit, please send an email to conference@oralhistoryaustralia.org.au and we will send your details to the chair of the Conference Program Committee.
Proposals for presentations / papers / panels / posters should be no more than 200 words (single space, 12 point font in Times New Roman) and must include at the top of the page, your name, institutional affiliation (if applicable), postal address, phone number and email address, the title for your presentation/panel, the sub-theme/s your work best connects to, and the presentation format (standard 20 minute paper; 5 minute ‘lightning’ account of work in progress; thematic panel; performance; or participatory workshop).
Presenters will be encouraged to submit papers to the refereed, online Oral History Australia journal, Studies in Oral History.
Submission
New proposals should be uploaded to EasyChair via this link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=oha2026.
To use this online conference management system, you will need to create an author account (a simple process that we have used in previous conferences) and then submit your proposal by uploading it as a PDF document (with full details as listed above).
If you are unfamiliar with EasyChair, please follow the instructions available at: https://www.easychair.org/docs/how_to_submit.
If you are unable to use this system, please email your proposal as a PDF attachment to conference@oralhistoryaustralia.org.au.
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