About the DLOHP

The Dartmouth Latino Oral History Project (DLOHP) is the outcome of oral histories produced for an undergraduate Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Course entitled “Crossing Over: Latino Migrant Roots and Transitions” taught by Prof. Lourdes Gutiérrez Nájera (Anthropology; Latino Studies). This course focuses on the experiences of Latino—Mexican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Guatemalan—transnational migrants living in the U.S. The literature draws from anthropology and its neighboring disciplines in an attempt to understand the social, political, and economic processes that shape the varied experiences of Latino migrants. In so doing we discuss issues of race, class, ethnicity and gender, raised by recent immigration through a comparative, integrative, global-historical perspective. In order to apply knowledge from the texts to real life experiences of Latinos in this country, each student interviews a first generation migrant the migrant from Latin America or the Caribbean. Students are not limited by whom they can interview but the interviewee must have a memory of the migration process. Thus, they are asked to interview someone who was at least 9 years of age when they migrated to the U.S. During the course of each quarter, students will conduct at least one hour long interview that they transcribe and with which they construct an oral history of roughly 4,000 words. Students integrate visual, audio, and text to produce a story that remains true to the spirit of their interview transcript. The oral histories presented, include the narrative composed by the student, original transcript, and an appendix linking the project to the class.

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