National Council on Public History

PROPOSAL TYPE

Roundtable

SEEKING

• Seeking Additional Presenters
• Seeking Specific Expertise
• Seeking General Feedback and Interest

RELATED TOPICS

• Memory
• Oral History
• Teaching and Training

ABSTRACT

Audio recordings offer powerful ways to connect students with history, deepen learning during field trips, and extend engagement into the classroom. This session will explore how museums and cultural institutions can integrate voices through oral histories, interviews, and story collections into educational programming and teacher resources. The National Veterans Memorial and Museum’s Story Collection will serve as one case study, showing how recorded veteran voices enrich student learning and strengthen ties with educators. Designed as a working session, participants will share ideas and contribute to a crowd-sourced guide for incorporating audio into field trips and classrooms, leaving with practical strategies and collaborative tools.

DESCRIPTION

My goal for this session is to highlight how museums and cultural institutions can use audio recordings to deepen student engagement, both during field trips and in classroom learning. Voices captured through oral histories, interviews, and curated story collections bring human experiences to life in ways that resonate with learners and help educators extend those connections beyond a single museum visit.

I would like to share the National Veterans Memorial and Museum’s Story Collection as a case study. This collection preserves conversations with and about veterans, which the museum integrates into field trips and classroom-ready educator resources. These recordings not only provide meaningful content for students but also strengthen our relationships with teachers who are looking for trusted, adaptable tools. Showcasing this model will demonstrate how audio can serve as both an interpretive and educational resource while also building institutional support within the education community.
At the same time, I do not want this session to focus solely on one institution. I am looking for colleagues from other organizations who are already using—or are experimenting with—audio recordings in their educational work. My hope is to bring together multiple perspectives and examples, so attendees can see a variety of approaches and adapt them for their own contexts. This could include organizations using oral history projects, audio tours, or student-created recordings as part of field trips or classroom materials.

This session is also designed as a working conversation rather than a one-way presentation. I envision participants collaborating on a shared, crowd-sourced guide to using audio collections in education. By pooling our experiences, challenges, and best practices, we can create a practical tool that extends beyond the conference and grows as more institutions contribute.

To strengthen this proposal, I am seeking:
-Panelists or co-presenters from other museums, archives, or cultural organizations who have incorporated audio into field trips or educator resources.
-Examples of different approaches, from low-tech to high-tech, that make audio accessible and engaging for students.
-Feedback on framing the session so that it appeals broadly to educators, interpreters, and curators who may be at different stages of working with audio materials.

If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly:
Mason Farr, National Veterans Memorial and Museum, [email protected] 

All feedback and offers of assistance should be sent by  November 15, 2025. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.

Discussion