Oral History and Human Subject Research: A Roundtable and Community Conversation on the Current State of Risks, Regulations, and Ethics Reviews

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the interconnections between public health research and oral history. The 2022 Nelson Memo and 2018 EU GDPR have raised awareness about research data, public access, retention, and transparency. As research protocols utilizing interview procedures have increased, so too have the risks associated with interviewees speaking publicly about political and social issues. Threats and targeting of ethnic groups, undocumented immigrants, libraries, and the LGBTQA+ community grow, along with worries about social media shaming or job loss for interviewees. AI. Deep fakes. Identity theft. As the importance of oral history in this shifting research context and public spotlight continues to grow, projects must increasingly adhere to data privacy protections, retention guidelines, transparency regulations, and ethics review. Social science and humanities research protocols must meet new criteria from peer-reviewed journals, Institutional Review Boards, institutional research and legal office reviews, federal agencies, and funding organizations. How can oral history researchers and practitioners adapt and support each other? How should interviewers prepare, train, and anticipate new levels of peer review and public scrutiny? How do we navigate the different legal and institutional interpretations of “exclusion” and “exemption”? All while preserving academic freedom and open repository access to oral history interviews? Join us for a discussion of the current state (and future) of oral history within the frameworks of human subject research review, data requirements, government regulations, cultural literacy guidelines, and best practices for ensuring protections for interviewees.