Lecture:  

Dr. Alessandro Portelli: On the Uses of Memory

20 Oct 2015

Acknowledged internationally as the most influential oral historian of the last quarter century, Professor Alessandro Portelli attended the International Workshop on Oral History (October 1 – 3, 2015) where he delivered a number of lectures exploring studies of memory and oral history in contemporary society.

Dr. Alessandro Portelli speaks at podium with University of Winnipeg logo.

Alessandro Portelli at the University of Winnipeg,  Eckhardt Gramatté Hall, October 1, 2015. Photo by: Kimberley Moore.

Alessandro Portelli speaking to an audience in seated presentation circle.

Alessandro Portelli and audience in the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Winnipeg Public Library, October 2015. Photo by: Kimberley Moore

Alessandro Portelli speaking to small crowd at podium in classroom, whiteboard background.

Alessandro Portelli at the Oral History Centre, 2015.

Photo of Dr. Alessandro Portelli in front of a beige wall background with Oral History Centre logo.

Dr. Alessandro Portelli at the Oral History Centre, 2015. Photo by: Kimberley Moore

Since the early 1980s Professor Portelli had continued to shape oral historians’ debates about history, memory, narrative, and dialogue. Dr. Portelli worked as a professor of Anglo-American Literature at Sapienza, the University of Rome from 1981 to 2012. Before that he taught at the University of Siena. That Professor Portelli is widely recognized as a leading figure in oral history is evident in the many awards he has received. This year he received the Dan David Prize from Tel Aviv University and was a visiting professor at Princeton University and at Columbia University. In previous years, he was a visiting professor at the University of Capetown and the University of Manchester, an honorary professor at the University of Aberdeen, and a visiting fellow at Harvard University and the University of Kentucky. Professor Portelli’s award-winning publications include The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue, The Order Has Been Carried Out: History, Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome, and They Say in Harlan County: An Oral History. Two books on Italian anti-fascist songs and on Bruce Springsteen have just been published in Italy.

Professor Portelli’s visit, made possible by the H. Sanford Riley Fellowship in Canadian History fostered a dialogue between Canadian historians and internationally recognized scholars.

About this Recording:

Sanford Riley Fellowship scholar Dr. Alessandro Portelli, University of Rome, gave a seminar on his latest work in the field of Oral History, musicology, ethnography, and Bruce Springsteen entitled “Oral History and Memory: Current Research and Forthcoming Publications” on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the Oral History Centre at the University of Winnipeg.

Alessandro Portelli speaking to small crowd at podium in classroom, whiteboard background.

Oral History and Memory: Current Research and Forthcoming Publications

Alessandro Portelli

About this Recording:

Dr. Alessandro Portelli, University of Rome gave a public talk on “Navigating Storytelling in the Digital Age,” on Monday, October 5, 2015, in the Carol Shields Auditorium at the Millennium Library in Winnipeg.

About this Recording:

On the evening of Thursday, October 1, 2015, Sanford Riley Fellowship scholar Dr. Alessandro Portelli (University of Rome) gave a public lecture entitled “On Uses of Memory”  in Eckhardt Gramatté Hall at the University of Winnipeg.