February 19, 2015

VUMC teams with NIH on national oral history project

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a project with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to record and preserve voices of local community members.

VUMC is partnering with StoryCorps on a national oral history project to give people an opportunity to share their stories.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a project with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to record and preserve voices of local community members.

VUMC is partnering with StoryCorps, a national oral history project, to give patients, their loved ones, researchers, staff and others in the community an opportunity to share their stories.

A StoryCorps interview is 40 minutes of uninterrupted time for meaningful conversation between two people who know each other well. The participants determine the conversation topics, and the goal is to recognize the people who enable health care work: patients, families, researchers, doctors, nurses, staff, volunteers and many other partners. It’s an opportunity to ask questions that matter and preserve stories for future generations.

Some of these stories are edited into shorter segments, which may be shared with millions of Americans in a weekly, award-winning broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition and through the StoryCorps website and podcast.

Three days of recording sessions will take place on the Medical Center campus in April. Participants will receive a copy of their recordings, which will also be archived in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Additionally, selected recordings will be featured on the Medical Center’s website and shared on social media.

For more information or to request to participate, please contact Craig Boerner in the Medical Center Office of News and Communications at craig.boerner@vanderbilt.edu. To listen to StoryCorps recordings, go to www.storycorps.org.