Please join us on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. for our first virtual guest speaker. Kevin Farkas, independent multimedia producer and award-winning oral historian, will be joining us via Zoom for his presentation: “Time Waits for No One: Preserving the Voices and Stories of Our Time.”
Oral histories are incredibly valuable first-hand accounts of lived experiences. From explaining the routine habits of everyday life before television to describing what it was like to endure major world events such as the 9/11 attacks, we benefit greatly from hearing the voices and stories of those who have witnessed history. But time waits for no one; when these historic voices go silent, they are lost forever. This is why we must capture, preserve, and share these important stories as much as we can before it is too late. Local history organizations and museums are uniquely positioned to serve their communities as oral history centers, actively engaging history now—in the present—so that we can preserve this history for future generations. In this presentation Kevin Farkas shares experiences and examples of local interviews from his “doing oral history” throughout Western Pennsylvania as part of The Social Voice Project, an innovative public history digital media effort.
Kevin holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from New Mexico Highlands University, where he specialized in discourse studies, ethnography, and sociolinguistics. He’s taught at New Mexico State University, Northern Arizona University, and the Pennsylvania State University. He also lived and taught within the Navajo Nation. Prior to creating the Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh Oral History Project and The Social Voice Project, Kevin was a corporate director of training in the electronics manufacturing industry.
At seventeen, Kevin joined the US Navy and served aboard the USS Saratoga. Afterwards, he thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, walked the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Colorado, and then traveled extensively throughout the country by bicycle. He now resides in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
To access the Zoom presentation, just enter this link into the web browser on your computer, tablet, or smartphone (see below). You can also visit the BAHF Facebook page and click on the link in the timeline.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4704839737?pwd=RDR5S2RWQldlUTZ6QXh2MXRienIrQT09
Meeting ID: 470 483 9737
Passcode: Spence401