Sound And Speaking Back To Colonial History: A Participatory Workshop

About this event:

What happens when we teach history differently, when archives, classrooms, and communities become shared spaces of learning and co-creation?

This one-day workshop from SOAS, Applied Stories and staff at The National Archives focuses on the unique potential of the medium of sound/audio to think about historical sources and ultimately the construction of history itself. Ten years of creative audio work at The National Archives including collaborations with SOAS History department has led to evolving a methodology that we describe as ‘embodied playfulness’ where the necessary tasks of interrogating documents and narratives can take on the quality of ‘play’. How does sound open up routes to explore history in ways that question power, authority, and exclusion in both our sources and our institutions?

This one-day workshop invites historians, archive and museum professionals, educators, and community leads, to think collectively about how audio can be used creatively and critically across higher education and public history. How might collaboration between GLAM professionals and academics open up new methods for teaching, curating, and imagining the past?

This workshop is not intended as the delivery of expertise. It is a space for collective reflection and exchange between a range of practitioners with a view to carrying on the conversation beyond the confines of one-day.

This workshop is supported by a Royal Historical Society / Scouloudi Public History Grant 2025-26 to promote collaboration between historians across the higher education and other sectors

Programme (subject to change):

10:00-10:45: – tea/coffee, introductions and opportunity to view displays and begin to exchange practice

· The opening session will offer participants a space to say more about their own practice and approaches to the themes of the day, before we collaborate.

11:00-13:30 – Audio Zine workshop

· Led by audio professionals, working with tablets and other audio equipment we will be introducing participants to a new methodological practice, encouraging people in small groups to ‘mashup’ a sound collage that captures their own unique response to The National Archive’s most recent project Global Second World War project and share it as part of the workshop

13:30 -14.30 – Lunch

14:30-16:30 – World Café including recording thought pieces

· The afternoon will be an opportunity to reflect on the audio zine workshop, share ideas, learn from one another, and build new connections across higher education, archives, and the creative sector. Together, we will consider how to document and ‘archive’ these conversations in ways that sustain engagement beyond the event and inform future practice.

16:30-17:00 – Conclusion including closing reflections and follow up plans

How to apply:

Please note registering for this event enters you into the application process only. You need to be 18 years or over to apply. You will receive a ticket confirmation via Eventbrite, but this does not guarantee your place in the workshop. Successful applicants will be selected and contacted by Monday 20th April separately.

This workshop is open to all. No formal audio or archive background or experience is required.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 2 April.

To apply for this workshop please click 'Register your interest’ and input the relevant information.

You will then be asked to answer the following question:

Please can you tell us why you are interested in taking part in Sound And Speaking Back To Colonial History: A Participatory Workshop with Applied Stories and staff at The National Archives and SOAS? We are particularly keen to hear from those who may be able to apply these practices in their own work and support wider collaborative efforts. (max 300 words)

If you would like time to think about your answer, we suggest that you save the link, take your time to consider your answer and then return to register when you are ready.

If you are successful in applying to take part in the workshop, you may be able to access one of three travel bursaries (each worth £100) for people who are not in permanent roles/ or salaried employment.

If you have any questions about the workshop or the application process, please contact Dr Eleanor Newbigin (en2@soas.ac.uk) or Iqbal Singh (iqbal.singh@nationalarchives.gov.uk)