Digital project showcases
Qurna Hillside Oral History Project
A screenshot of a segment from a transcribed interview.
The Qurna Hillside Oral History Project documents the lives and experiences of residents relocated from their homes on the West Bank of the Nile near Luxor. Qurna has long been a focal point of interest, prominent for its hillside location near ancient sites and its decorated houses. A government attempt in the 1940s to move the residents to a new settlement designed by architect Hassan Fathy failed, but from 2006 to 2008 numerous village houses were demolished and their residents relocated.
The oral history recordings and transcripts in this collection are the product of a series of interviews conducted in spring 2016 by a team of student and library staff oral history interviewers from The American University in Cairo, assisted by two local liaisons, who visited former residents in their new homes. The more than seventy interviews, many with elderly men and women, addressed their upbringing, work, family life, material culture, and traditional practices in areas like religion and medicine. Also covered are encounters with outsiders like tourists and archaeologists, as well as the interviewees’ experience of their relocation. The interviews were conducted in Arabic (with interviewees typically speaking in local dialect); for some interviews access must be requested from RBSCL staff.
This project was a joint effort between AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library and Caroline Simpson’s Qurna History Project, and made possible by an AUC Faculty Research Grant and an AMICAL Small Grant. The Small Grant supported transcribing and providing description for the oral history interviews, making them available online as an open access primary source.
Resources
- Qurna Hillside Oral History Project at AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Digital Library.
Project team members
- Stephen Urgola, American University in Cairo, University Archivist
- Ryder Kouba, ACOR librarian and archivist, formerly American University in Cairo, Digital Collections Archivist
- Irina Schmid, American University in Cairo, Digital Collections Archivist
- Mahmoud Farag, American University in Cairo, Digital Audio Editor
In addition to a number of students who conducted, transcribed and translated the interviews.
Project digital pedagogical goals
Students conducting and transcribing and translating oral histories gained experience in oral history theory and techniques. Engagement with Faculty regarding final product: For a number of years faculty members at AUC like Rhetoric Professor Doris Jones, Journalism professor Kim Fox, and members of AUC’s History Department have incorporated usage of archival materials into their classes. Their students have researched topics like the experiences of Egyptian women, history of the theater program at AUC, and student life ranging from fashion to activism and participation in political protests. The materials used, however, were generally textual or visual materials with indexes or other descriptions available. By enhancing description of oral histories, AUC’s oral history resources can be more readily used by students for class research.