BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Columba Systems Ltd//NONSGML CPNG/SpringViewer/ICal Output/3.3-
 M3//EN
VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20240116T171447Z
DTSTART:20240415T143000Z
DTEND:20240415T170000Z
SUMMARY:The Humanitarian Archive in Historical Perspective
UID:{http://www.columbasystems.com/customers/uom/gpp/eventid/}c2l5-lrgm47
 sq-oalmfr
DESCRIPTION:This session will explore the constitution of a new archive o
 f humanitarian records and how historians develop a synchronous way of e
 ngaging with very contemporary sources they are helping to preserve and 
 archive.  \n\nThe event will include a presentation by the Humanitarian 
 Archivist\, Flora Chatt\, on ‘The purpose of the archive’. This discussi
 on will be devoted to the development of an archive’s purpose in collect
 ing material. It will set out how gaps are identified and retrospectivel
 y filled in both archives that are not in current use and ‘live’ collect
 ions of records. We will discuss the effect of engagement with historica
 l research and specific projects on an archive\, and how this proactiven
 ess contrasts with the traditional view of the archivist as a passive an
 d neutral figure. This talk will also involve a collections encounter wi
 th some relevant objects from the humanitarian archive. \n\nThis will be
  followed by a discussion of historical work undertaken using these arch
 ives and other similar archival deposits. These presentations by the tea
 m of the Developing Humanitarian Medicine Wellcome Project will reflect 
 on the challenges presented by using very contemporary sources and the p
 ositionality questions a synchronous historical method entails.  Dr Mari
 a Cullen will discuss ‘Working in Humanitarian Archives: Oxfam and MSF’ 
 which will contrast publicly accessible archives deposited in public arc
 hives and private archives open to researchers. There will be a discussi
 on about how private institutions have processes and how preservation ta
 kes place. The paper will consider what these institutional archives can
  tell us and their silences. In particular\, it reflects upon the diffic
 ulty of finding traces of the beneficiaries in institutional archives wh
 ich tend to de-humanize recipients of aid. It also discusses oral histor
 y and how it can complement these deposits.  \n\nDr Janelle Winters will
  reflect on her experience working as a historian embedded in an ongoing
  medical research project during COVID-19. As the ‘trial historian’ for 
 the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit’s ‘COPCOV’ trial – a 
 randomised-controlled trial testing the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine i
 n preventing COVID-19 in eleven countries – she has been attending trial
  meetings\, conducting stakeholder interviews across trial sites in Sout
 heast Asia and Africa\, and compiling project documents. Her talk will p
 rovide perspectives on the differences between ‘semi-structured’ and ‘or
 al history’ interviews in the context of contemporary global history. It
  will also present ethical (and legal) challenges for conducting intervi
 ews during ongoing health emergencies and ‘archiving’ vast collections o
 f digital sources. \n\nProfessor Bertrand Taithe will reflect on ‘Develo
 ping operational archives with humanitarians’. This talk will discuss ho
 w humanitarians and historians can collaborate in new archival policies 
 and the development of record keeping closest to the field and seek to a
 ddress major archiving gaps in humanitarian work. This paper will draw o
 n work done in Cambodia and Malawi with MSF including setting up operati
 onal archives and conducting oral history interviews. The presentation w
 ill conclude on how the new archive feeds historical reflections while a
 lso reflecting research priorities.  \n\nThis event is a collaboration b
 etween the Developing Humanitarian Medicine Wellcome funded project and 
 the John Rylands Research Institute and Library. You can find more infor
 mation below by following the links: \n\nhttps://www.library.manchester.
 ac.uk/rylands/special-collections/subject-areas/humanitarian-archive/\n\
 nAnd \n\nhttps://www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk/research/projects/developing-
 humanitarian-medicine/\n\nThis event forms part of CIDRAL's Archives ser
 ies of events.\n\n
STATUS:TENTATIVE
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
LOCATION:Map Room\, The University of Manchester Library\, Manchester
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR