Columbia Oral History Workshops

Oral history is a powerful tool for advancing public knowledge, for organizing, for creative practice and more. As part of our mission to act as a vital hub for this ever-evolving field, we offer a range of opportunities to connect, learn, and grow your skills in oral history.

See our events page for information about our free public programs and workshop series.

We also offer one-on-one consultations, remote introductory and intensive trainings, in-person workshops for small groups, and a few sustained consulting arrangements each year for more hands-on support.

One-on-one consulting

One-hour conversations with senior members of the COH community help you tackle pivotal questions and challenges:

Planning: Got a great idea for an oral history project, but unsure whether you have everything you need to get started? We can offer pointers on nuts and bolts, like project timelines, narrator outreach, and more.

Budgets: Wondering how much to charge for oral history services, or how to set up a budget for your grant proposal? We can walk you through how to consider your costs and advocate for reasonable pay.

Best practices: Running into a challenging ethical quandary? We can serve as a sounding board, and offer guidance based on decades of experience.

Peer review: Looking for feedback on a recent interview, a draft article, or other oral-history-related work? We can review excerpts and documents and/or media to offer helpful reflections and guidance.

Anything else we can help with?

Get in touch to let us know what you need. We’ll schedule a time to talk, if we agree that our expertise is a fit. We have limited slots available each year, so please let us know if your request is time-sensitive.

In 2026, our fee for a one-hour consulting session is $250. We are prepared to offer a sliding scale for those for whom this fee would be a hardship,

Remote trainings

Our training sessions for groups can be tailored to the needs of your team. Here are just a few examples of what we’re prepared to offer:

Public history and activating archives

Introduction to file stewardship and security
Introduction to transcription and descriptive metadata
Getting a project started with small budgets and big dreams

In-person workshops

Oral history is transdisciplinary and accessible for all. Gaining experience with oral history methods can enhance your practice, whether your teams are physicians, software engineers, or educators and more. We gather small groups for fun and engaging introductory workshops in the art of reciprocal listening, memory work, and other facets of oral history.

You may book a workshop with us at our location, or we can send a member of our team to yours. Fees vary depending on location and group size.

Sustained consulting

Some projects may require more engaged consulting from us over a greater duration. Some examples may include:

Establishing an oral history program at your institution
Iterative training and feedback for your team during an ongoing oral history project, or grant-funded research with oral history elements.

While our availability is limited, we are open to considering this kind of in-depth work on a case-by-case basis. Contact us to arrange a call to discuss your project. If we determine our expertise is a fit for your needs, we can follow-up with a custom proposal.