Welcome to OHIS!

Oral History in Sweden (OHIS) is a network for researchers who either focus on oral history within their research or who are more generally interested in oral history. The two of us responsible for the network today, - Annika Olsson, docent in literary studies, and Malin Thor Tureby, professor of history, - are among the network's founders.

We have been active as a network since 2012 and have been through different phases: initially, we had backing from the Riksbanken Jubileumsfond (2012-2015), as well as from the Department of Gender Studies at Stockholm University; since 2020, we have had the support of Malmö University, where those of us responsible for the network are now employed. The Department for Society, Culture and Identity (SKI), at the Faculty of Learning and Society, where Malin Thor Tureby is a professor, has provided financial assistance with funds to conduct the seminar. Thus, it goes to say that whereas Stockholm University provided a hub for the activities during the initial years, more recently Malmö University has been the base for our activity.

At the outset, the purpose of OHIS was to create a platform for exchange and collaboration. We wanted to create better conditions for oral history in Sweden, and through new research to provide new scholarship concerning contemporary and older oral history, - but also to shine a light on the research and knowledge that already existed. Now, over ten years later, we can justly claim that we have achieved some of the goals we were aiming for. This does not mean that we are finished, but that today the network can operate in a way quite different from in 2012.

The foundation of our network and our operation has always been the seminar. Since 2012, we have arranged a variety of seminars and workshops, participated in both national and international conferences, arranged a larger national conference (23-24 October 2014) and hosted several sessions at the national meetings of Historians. We who are active in the network are all researchers working at various universities within Sweden, but our activities are nonetheless characterized by our international exchanges and contacts. Over the years, we have built up a large network with other organizations, networks and individual researchers around the world. During the initial years we ran a blog (http://oralhistoryinsweden.blogspot.se) which today functions as an archive. Our Facebook page serves as a meeting place and notice board: (https://www.facebook.com/groups/oralhistoryinsweden/ )

As the two of us these days are both active at Malmö University, many of our seminars are arranged in Malmö, but since the researchers we work with are scattered around the world, our seminars are nowadays usually either digital or hybrid. You are most welcome to participate! Get in touch with one of us, and we'll make sure you receive information about our upcoming events: malin.thor@mau.se or annika.olsson@mau.se

Malin Thor Tureby is professor of history at the Department of Society, Culture and Identity (SKI), at the Faculty of Learning and Society, Malmö University. You can find more information about her research here: https://mau.se/personer/malin.thor/

Annika Olsson, docent in literary studies, is Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University. You can find more information about her research here: https://mau.se/personer/annika.olsson/