History Program > The Institute for Local and Oral History
The Institute for Local and Oral History
Established in 2008 as a part of the History Program and funded by Indiana University Southeast’s Commitment to Excellence Award, the Institute for Local and Oral History is an expression of the university’s larger mission to provide high-quality educational programs and services to students and communities throughout southern Indiana and the greater Louisville region. The Institute seeks to advance this mission by enabling students to develop innovative research projects that take advantage of the region’s rich historical resource and to explore career opportunities through its various historical and cultural organizations. Examples of the Institute’s programs include the following:
Local History Research Projects: Under the supervision of the Institute director and individual resident faculty members, students have the opportunity to develop individual and group research projects that examine local and regional history topics within broader national and conceptual contexts.
Oral History: During the spring semester, the Institute director teaches an advanced course in the theory and methods of oral history. Students will apply course concepts to the development and execution of oral history projects that record and archive the memories of local citizens about their lives in the Ohio Valley region.
Internships: Qualified juniors and seniors have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through employment in regional historical and cultural organizations such as museums, historic preservation agencies, historical societies, archival repositories, libraries, cultural resource management agencies, and consulting firms. Please contact the director for more details.
On-Campus Presentation and Events: Throughout the year, the Institute will host seminars, presentations, and lectures on local and oral history. Members of the local community are welcome to attend and participate in all on-campus presentations.
Lewis and Clark Expedition Summer Institute: Co-sponsored by the Indiana University Southeast Schools of Education and Social Sciences, the Center for Cultural Resources, and the Indiana Lewis and Clark Foundation, this intensive, three-week interdisciplinary program consists of a morning seminar that emphasizes major historical themes related to the expedition and an afternoon education workshop that applies those themes to the K-12 classroom, with particular focus on the expedition’s ties to the Falls of the Ohio region.
Conferences and Publication: The Institute actively seeks opportunities for students to present outstanding papers at research conferences and other venues.
Institute Director: Dr. Carl E. Kramer, an American urban historian with a doctorate from the University of Toledo, has nearly 35 years of experience as a historian of the Louisville metropolitan region, including nearly three decades as a public history consultant. An adjunct member of the university’s History faculty for over 30 years, Dr. Kramer is the author of nine books, including This Place We Call Home: A History of Clark County, Indiana, published in 2007 by Indiana University Press.
For more information contact: Dr. Carl E. Kramer, Director, Institute for Local and Oral History, School of Social Sciences, Indiana University Southeast, 4201 Grant Line Road, New Albany, IN 47150. Phone: 812-941-2279. E-mail: caekrame@ius.edu.
