Through teachers’ and students’ eyes: An oral history project on Anatolia College’s identity, educational, cultural and social life back in time

This oral history research project brings together librarians, archivists, and university teaching staff and students. The aim is to explore and document the educational, social and cultural life of Anatolia College and of Thessaloniki as experienced by its former teachers and students after WWII and until 1960.

This pilot research project brings together librarians, archivists, university teaching staff and students. As part of their Service Learning practicum, students at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) explore and document the identity, educational, social and cultural life of Anatolia College and of Thessaloniki after WWII and until 1960. With approximately 90 years of presence in the city of Thessaloniki, Anatolia College boasts a rich and diverse socio-cultural trajectory, which has shaped its current mission and goals. While documentation available on the history of the college is archived, there still remains a void to be filled, that is with the voices and memories of its teachers and students. Under the guidance of Bissell Library staff, ACT staff and Archives experts, as well as US and Greek National Archives recommendations, ACT students have embarked on an exciting journey back in time through recording former Anatolia teachers’ and students’ experiences of, and insights into, the College’s everyday educational, social and cultural life in previous decades. Employing oral history as an indispensable tool to delve into and better understand the past, students will here present the project, and share with AMICAL opportunities and challenges out of this unique interdisciplinary, collaborative and intergenerational initiative.