About
This project builds on and expands existing university-community collaborations among UTSC faculty and librarians across disciplines and community organizations in Scarborough and gives researchers at all levels the opportunity to engage directly retelling stories of and from Scarborough.
History
The Scarborough Oral Histories Project (SOHP) initiative began in the fall of 2013 with the first offering of a successful interdisciplinary course in community-based research and Oral History – involving faculty and students from City Studies, History and Womens’ and Gender Studies and led by Chris Berkowitz, HCS, Connie Guberman, HCS Women's and Gender Studies; Ahmed Allahwalla, Human Geography, City Studies; and Adon Irani, CTL, in collaboration with the UTSC library. A partial description of the pedagogical approaches taken in this course work is available in Quick Hits for teaching with digital humanities. The collection of oral histories through course-based research has continued and in 2019 a further project to capture the history of UTSC through oral histories and archival research was launched under the leadership of Dr. Christine Berkowitz.
In 2014, the UTSC 50th Anniversary Legacy Fund awarded a grant to Stories of UTSC 1964-2014 - a joint collaboration of faculty members in the Departments of Human Geography, Historical and Cultural Studies, and the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Toronto Scarborough. The digital exhibit portion of this project can be visited online. The project intentionally blurred the boundaries and connected different scholarly traditions, and is concerned with questions of memory, identity, and politics, as they relate to UTSC as a place.
The library continues to use this platform to highlight and promote multimedia stories from and about Scarborough and invites community and campus partners to reach out if they have appropriate material they would like to discuss adding to the collection.
Content Note
We are honoured that the participants in the oral histories preserved in this collection have granted their permission for us to share their stories with you. These oral histories and interviews document human expression and lived experience. A few of our participants have experienced trauma in their lives. Some talk about sexual violence, some about racism. These are very difficult experiences shared because the participant wanted them to be heard. They told their stories and gave permission for those stories to be shared for an educational purpose.
We believe in the importance of fostering access to our collections in a responsible and transparent way that preserves historical evidence of social conditions and attitudes. Due to the nature of the historical materials, there may be occurrences of language, ideologies, and values that reflect the practice or context of the time in which the story was told. We reject oppressive views that may be reflected in our collections, including but not limited to racism, sexism, ableism, and homophobia. The inclusion of such content should not be considered an endorsement of the use of this language or ideology. Where necessary, content notes are visible beneath the player in association with a specific oral history.
We acknowledge that this may be difficult for those using the collection. If you have questions about this content, please reach out to us with your concerns using the support information at the bottom of this page.
Supporting Technology
The Stories from Scarborough are stewarded by the UTSC Library in an Islandora-backed repository powered by the Oral History Solution Pack, which is described in additional detail in a Code4Lib article from 2017. The software allows for the editing and display of timed transcripts for media. The Oral Histories Solution Pack serves the needs of the Scarborough Oral History Project, but also provides a generalized solution to the rest of the scholarly community. By leveraging and participating in Open Source communities, this development effort promises to provide software with greater longevity and continual support than other efforts in this sphere. The latest version of this software integrates with AblePlayer, and refines support for transcribed audio and video files.
Contributors
The project has hosted multiple students, who have received co-curricular training in research skills, digital collections development, and the transcription process. In addition to the student researchers represented in the collection, the following team has worked on transcription, description, and coordination of content for the collections:
- Nancy Lee, (UTSC History Project Technical Coordinator), 2019-2023
- Edward Dunsworth (UTSC History Project Coordinator), 2018-2019
- Evelyn Feldman (DSU Emerging Professional), 2019-2020
- Maherah Sadaf, Summer 2020; Fall/Winter 2020-2021; Summer 2021
- Irish Bonon, Summer 2021
- Maria Bacchus, 2020-2023
- Issra Marie Martin, Summer 2020
- Naailah Patel, Fall/Winter 2019-2020; Summer 2022
- Hsin Yu (Madgen) Liao, Fall/Winter 2019-2020
- Danielle Milankov, Fall/Winter 2019-2020
- Sasha Dhesi (DSU Emerging Professional), Fall/Winter 2021-2022
- Sukhvir Khera (DSU Emerging Professional), Fall/Winter 2021-2022
- Sarah Sooknanan (DSU Emerging Professional), Fall/Winter 2021-2022
- Olivia White (DSU Emerging Professional), Fall/Winter 2021-2022
- Amelia Ainsworth (UTSC History Project Coordinator), 2019-2022
- Karissa Yuet, Summer 2022
- Tammy Nguyen, Summer 2022; Fall/Winter 2022-2023
- Stephania Virgillio, Fall/Winter 2022-2023
- Kathleen Lacey, Summer 2023
- Inyoung Choi, Summer 2023
- Amena Ahmed, 2020-2022; Fall 2023
Get Involved
If you are telling, capturing, or stewarding stories with a Scarborough connection, and are interested in having them added to the Scarborough Oral History platform, please contact dsu.utsc@utoronto.ca.
Get Support
The UTSC Library respects the intellectual property and consent of others. If you are concerned that you have found material in this collection, for which you have not given permission or if you wish to withdraw permission, please contact us at the UTSC Library using the email address dsu.utsc@utoronto.ca or the address on the bottom of our website homepage, stating the following:
- Your contact information (including email address and phone)
- Exact URL where you found the material
- Details that describe the material (name, specifications, characteristics, etc.)
- The reason why you would like content removed or altered, with any pertinent documentation
Upon receipt of your objection, the UTSC Library will:
- Promptly acknowledge receipt of your statement via email (or other means of communication if you do not have an email account)
- We may temporarily remove the material from public view while we assess the validity of your information
Upon completion of our assessment, the UTSC Library will take appropriate action and communicate that action to you.