We will then turn to a presentation on the Montreal Life Stories project at Concordia University (http://www.lifestoriesmontreal.ca/), with two of its participants speaking on their respective roles and projects within this well-funded and ambitious enterprise. Anna Sheftel will discuss her experiences working with survivors of mass violence who tell their stories, including Holocaust survivors and victims of violence in the former Yugoslavia. Her research also took her to Bihać, a city in the northwest of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 2005, to research wartime memory in the region, and she will speak as well on the lessons learned there about the political and ethical potential of oral history. One of the founding members, and committee coordinators, of the Montreal Life Stories project, Lisa Ndejuru has also been centrally involved in the Rwandan working group and with various performance-based workshops that draw on oral narratives and experiment with different ways of creating dialogue around such difficult stories. In addition to discussing those efforts, she will also talk about getting these stories into the high school curriculum by highlighting a learning module on genocide that drew on a Rwandan graphic artist’s work. This promises to be an informative and intellectually engaging, and also emotionally moving, evening. We hope it will inspire others to speak about their own efforts at using oral and digital storytelling methods to educate and empower those in the classroom and beyond it.

These “Little Berks” meetings are open to all members and their guests. We urge you to attend, to bring your colleagues and students, and to introduce them to the work of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians. “Little Berks” meetings provide a relaxed and informal setting in which to meet and converse with other historians, as well as becoming more involved with the running of the organization.

This year’s location is the Willits-Hallowell Center at Mt. Holyoke College. For more information visit the Willits-Hallowell website.

Cost:

We have reserved a block of 20 double rooms. The double room rate is $115 per night, but does not include tax. Registration will be $120.00. This fee will include the cost of dinner on Friday and Saturday evening as well as breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Both dinners will include vegetarian options. Payment for registration can be made by check to Susan Yohn at the meeting. Please make your checks payable to Berkshire Conference of Women Historians.

Registration:

Because we need an accurate count of who will be attending for our dinner orders, please complete the online registration form. This will register you for the meeting only; lodging arrangements are separate.

You must contact the Willits-Hallowell Center directly to make your room reservation. Please call the Center at (413) 538-2217. Be sure to indicate that you are with the Berkshire Conference. If you will be sharing a room, please give the Inn the name of your roommate.

We can underwrite the room and board expenses of junior faculty and graduate students. We will pay 30% of the room and board costs for recently employed or underemployed faculty, and 50% for graduate students. If you would like to take advantage of these subsidies, please contact Susan Yohn at smyohn@verizon.net before making your reservations.

Agenda:

On Friday evening, we will begin with drinks at 5:30, followed by dinner at 6:30 and a speaker (to be announced) after dinner.

The business meeting is scheduled for 3pm on Saturday at the Center followed by drinks, dinner, and a speaker (to be announced). At our afternoon business meeting we will discuss several administrative issues including plans for the Big Berks meeting in 2011.

During free times on Saturday and Sunday members may enjoy hiking, the Mt. Holyoke Art Museum, or short trips to nearby Amherst and Northampton.