UN launches oral History collection
29 January 2012
New York, Jan 20 : A collection of more than 200 interviews covering major events in the history of the United Nations was launched on Thursday at the world body’s Headquarters in New York, and will be accessible to the public through a website.
The UN Library’s Oral History Collection consists of interviews conducted over the course of 25 years with former delegates, UN staff members and journalists, all of whom recounted their experiences on major world events.
They also discuss various crises and wars of independence, as well as topics such as apartheid, weapons of mass destruction, and what it was like to work with former Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
The audio files and interview transcripts, which were conducted by UN staff and Yale University researchers, also include discussions held during the creation of the UN Charter as well as reflections of staff members who remembered what it was like working at Hunter College before the Headquarters moved permanently to Manhattan’s East Side.
The Collection seeks to shed light on the history of the founding of the Organization and its role in conflict resolution since 1945, and to be a useful primary source of information for scholars and the media that spotlights the activities of the UN during turbulent periods in world history. (IBNS)
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The Role of Objects in Oral Narrative
Philosophers refer to anything that exists—or possesses the potential to exist—as an object. This concept may manifest in material forms, abstract notions, and even human emotions and lived experiences. In other words, an object encompasses a vast spectrum of beings and phenomena, each endowed with particular attributes and characteristics, and apprehensible in diverse modalities.100 Questions/6
We asked several researchers and activists in the field of oral history to express their views on oral history questions. The names of each participant are listed at the beginning of their answers, and the text of all answers will be published on this portal by the end of the week. The goal of this project is to open new doors to an issue and promote scientific discussions in the field of oral history.The Importance of Pre-Publication Critique of Oral History Works
According to the Oral History website, a meeting for critique and review of the book “Oral History: Essence and Method” was held on Monday morning, November 10, 2025, with the attendance of the book’s author, Hamid Qazvini, and the critics Mohammad Qasemipour and Yahya Niazi, at the Ghasr-e Shirin Hall of the National Museum of the Islamic Revolution and Sacred Defense.Challenges of Interviewing in Oral History
After years of studying the theoretical foundations of oral history, conducting numerous interviews and going through their post-interview stages, as well as reading the available body of oral history literature, I was eventually given the opportunity to evaluate the edited versions of dozens of oral history projects.
