Graduate Field Scholars are the intellectual and creative strength of the SOHP.
The Field Scholars come from all departments and disciplines across Carolina to conduct new research and contribute new oral histories for various SOHP projects. Each academic year the SOHP selects at least three current UNC graduate students to work with us for 15 hours per week through a selective application process.
Here are some of the ways the Field Scholars contribute to the SOHP:
- Support archival processing of interviews through transcription and preparation for depositing materials in the Southern Historical Collection
- Edit and produce materials from the archive to help promote public engagement and access to the SOHP’s collection
- Collaborate with and support community partners in a multitude of ways, including training & workshops, community archiving, and participating in various stakeholders' working groups to maintain relationships in the field and beyond
- Mentor and train undergraduates in oral history methods, fieldwork, and curatorial aspects
- Assist in grant research and development
- Teach undergraduate courses, including HIST593: Oral History Internship
- Publish articles based on oral history fieldwork & research
- Prepare and facilitate oral history workshops, both on and off campus
- Address issues with SOHP’s collection and suggest ways to address inequities and oversights in the archive
- Practice and engage in interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing strengths from each of their departments from across UNC’s campus
- Learn skills essential to their future work as scholars
Former Field Scholars hold faculty positions at UNC-Chapel Hill, Columbia, Duke, San Diego State, West Virginia University, Cal State Fullerton, University of Kentucky, and Texas A&M. Others hold positions in archives and museums such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Park Service, and the Citadel.