2024 Oral History Association Annual Meeting

This panel explores oral histories surrounding the Russo-Ukrainian War and Afro-Brazilian Candomblé communities. The research focuses on cultural resistance through religion, social media, and the roles of women in war.
Cultural Resistance in the Russo-Ukrainian War - Thomas Wood, West Chester University

Thomas Wood interviewed Ukrainian university students who took part in the project. His research investigates how this group of Ukrainians participated in and views acts of cultural resistance through social media and identity.

War is No Place For Women - Skylar Painter, West Chester University

Skylar Painter interviewed Ukrainian women about their experiences during wartime, whether that be past instances of Soviet aggression or during the current Russo-Ukrainian War.

The Centrality of Oral Tradition to the Study of Candomblé - Isabela Carvalho, West Chester University

Isabela Carvalho researched the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé community. Candomblé is a religious resistance movement that used oral traditions to pass down their culture during the intense years of persecution in the twentieth century.

Education Through War: At Home and Abroad - Wibke Meurer, West Chester University

This panel analyzes how education has changed for Ukrainian university students since Russia's full-scale invasion. The research focuses on the challenges and possibilities which students are exposed to in their student life in Ukraine and abroad in Germany.ABSTRACT: This panel consists of oral history research from three West Chester University of Pennsylvania students. Students’ projects focus on testimony from narrators with Ukrainians experiencing war firsthand and members of the Candomblé community in Brazil. While the narrators’ cultures are distinct from one another, the research shares a common thread of studying the use of cultural resistance in the past, present, and future to subvert oppression. Isabela Carvalho researched the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé community. Candomblé is a religious resistance movement that used oral traditions to pass down their culture during the intense years of persecution in the twentieth century. Carvalho’s interviews highlight how this community persevered to the present day. Skylar Painter interviewed Ukrainian women about their experiences during wartime, whether that be past instances of Soviet-aggression or during the current Russo-Ukrainian War. Painter’s role was as a part of a broader project in partnership with Saarland University, Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, the Ukrainian Catholic University, and West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Painter’s research explores how women’s identity has impacted their modes of resistance. Thomas Wood worked on a different subproject within the international partnership of universities. Wood interviewed Ukrainian university students who took part in the project. His research investigates how this group of Ukrainians participated in and views acts of cultural resistance through social media and identity.These three projects seek to raise the voices of historically marginalized communities through the use of oral history. By amplifying the stories of communities experiencing various forms of violence and oppression, we empower them to further resist their oppressors. Our projects explore a history of oppression and resistance, how this history manifests in the present, and finally how we can move forward to a world where Ukraine is a sovereign nation and the Candomblé can practice their religion in peace.