ABSTRACT

For more than thirty years, collecting oral histories has been recognized as an effective teaching strategy in the West. Although it is rare in Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries, the authors adopted it to bridge knowledge gaps they observed in their Saudi Arabian students. The reclamation of familial stories and tribal information using oral history methodologies reconnected students to their past while facilitating a unique learning experience. This paper describes how an oral history project was created for female undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia to help them move beyond the hard science approach supported in the Arabian world to one that embraces a narrative-based methodology. Historically, oral histories – an important pillar of Arabian society – were used to transfer significant tribal information, customs, traditions, and stories from one generation to the next. Since the discovery of oil, the kingdom has undergone dramatic societal and lifestyle transformations resulting in the loss of some traditions. The fundamental goal for this project was to improve the students’ comprehension of humanities and social science courses by reconnecting them to their past using historical methods.

摘要

三十多年来，在西方，收集口述历史被认为是一种有效的教学策略。尽管在海湾合作委员会（GCC）国家中很少见，但作者还是采用了它来弥合他们在沙特阿拉伯学生中观察到的知识鸿沟。使用口述历史方法进行的家族故事和部落信息的开垦使学生重新了解自己的过去，同时促进了独特的学习体验。本文介绍了如何为沙特阿拉伯的女大学生创建口述历史项目，以帮助他们从阿拉伯世界支持的硬科学方法转变为采用基于叙事方法的方法。历史上，口述历史是阿拉伯社会的重要支柱，曾被用来传递重要的部落信息，习俗，传统，以及一代又一代的故事。自发现石油以来，沙特王国经历了戏剧性的社会和生活方式转变，导致某些传统的流失。该项目的基本目标是通过使用历史方法使学生重新认识他们的过去，从而提高他们对人文和社会科学课程的理解。