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Sound, Ethnography and the Archive
Instructor: Rim Irscheid
Date and Time: Monday evening 6-8pm | 19 Jan – 2 March

*Session Dates: 19 Jan, 26 Jan [2 Feb Break] 9 Feb, 16 Feb, 23 Feb, 2 March – 2026

 

WHAT: This course explores the role of sound in challenging the way we remember, archive and exhibit micro-histories. Covering theoretical, ethnographic and arts-based approaches to sonic archiving, participants will develop skills to discuss, record and display alternative archives that challenge colonial forms of knowledge production.

WHERE: In-Person, UCL East, Stratford, London.

WHO: Run by ethnomusicologist, curator & artist Rim Irscheid

WHEN: This in-person course takes place on six Monday evenings (6pm to 8pm) 19th Jan – 2nd March 2026.

COMMITMENT: 2 hours per week, plus optional extra reading and watching outside of class.

WHAT YOU GET: Learn about the importance of personal archives and methods including sensory ethnography, sound walking and preservation of recordings.

HOW MUCH: £275 / £255 / £235

DEADLINE TO SIGN UP: Please book by 10th Jan.

BURSARIES: Now Closed.

AGES: 18+

 

SESSION OVERVIEW
The course introduces you to the possibilities and challenges of using sound to preserve knowledge and memories, spanning institutional and personal domains. Looking at different techniques for building archives in documentary film, family recordings and mixed media art, you will learn about history, ethics and methods for using sound in the context of archives.

SESSION 1: ARCHIVES AND COUNTER-ARCHIVES

Archives have become a core subject for academics and contemporary artists that dissect the relationship between institutional power and colonial violence. The first session introduces the theories around archives and counter-archives across archival art and ethnography, touching on David Zeitnlyn’s ‘Anthropology in and of the Archives’.

SESSION 2: SONIC ABSENCE
Jumana Manna’s 2015 film ‘A Magical Substance Flows into Me’ deals with new ways of reactivating sound archives with those who contributed to its creation as she uses her mobile phone to replay sounds from Palestine across local households. We will discuss the role of sonic absence from the archive and its relation to colonial violence, considering Michelle Caswell’s writing on archival representation.

SESSION 3: BEARING WITNESS
How do we listen to stories of those who cannot speak? Looking at the work of Mounira Al-Solh, we will discuss the importance of oral storytelling and micro-histories displayed in tactile art forms, including textile art and mixed media installation from Lebanon and Palestine.

SESSION 4: SOUNDWALKING
This session will involve a practical exercise to introduce soundwalking as a methodology to archive the sounds and feelings of spaces and places that affect us. Using our mobile phones and prompts for recording, we will cover how soundwalking can be employed as a tool to archive acoustic environments of the present.

SESSION 5: FAMILY ARCHIVES
Our own stories matter, but it can be difficult to record a close family member or distant relative about their past experiences. We will look at the methods and ethics of recording family archives, with a focus on trauma-informed interview techniques, sensory elicitation, and ethnographic to preserving personal stories.

SESSION 6: PRESERVING SOUND FOR THE FUTURE
After recording sounds of people, places, and the environment, what do we do with them? This session introduces the basics of metadata, from technical formats to contextualising information. We will also cover how different online and offline spaces can preserve and display sound recordings to support their survival and access for different audiences.

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This course offers bursary places. Please check our Terms and conditions to see if you are eligible to apply.

If you still have other questions relating to a specific course or request, please get in touch with us via emailing shortcourses@opencitylondon.com

Featured Image: A magical substance flows into me by Jumana Manna

What is UCL’s section of Public Anthropology?

Public Anthropology is a subsection of UCL’s Anthropology department. It hosts the short course programme, Open City Documentary Festival, and several graduate degree programmes.

The two main strands within Public Anthropology are media and creative and collaborative enterprise, which both merge industry expertise with academic research agendas.

Graduate degree programmes based in the Public Anthropology section include:

• Audio Storytelling for Radio and Podcast MA

• Creative Documentary by Practice MFA

• Creative and Collaborative Enterprise MA

• Designing Audio Experiences: Art, Science and Production MA

• Ethnographic and Documentary Film (Practical) MA

• Immersive Factual Storytelling MA

Public Anthropology houses London’s global non-fiction film festival, Open City Documentary Festival. Open City Documentary Festival produces an annual film festival, the bi-annual journal Non-Fiction and screening projects throughout the year.

Public Anthropology runs short courses in filmmaking, audio, virtual reality, film theory, practical camera training and film editing.