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Recording Modern and Contemporary History with Citizens, Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum to Operate Urban Archiving School

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The Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum announced that it will operate the Urban Archiving School in 2025 as part of its citizen-oriented historical documentation programs.

The Urban Archiving School was first launched in 2023 to continuously discover and collect the everyday life stories of Busan’s modern and contemporary history through citizen-led documentation activities.

The program consists of four components:

• ●Regular course: Citizen Archivist Training Program

• ●Advanced course: Regional Oral History Seminar

• ●Special course: Website Archiving Workshop

• ●Sharing event: Busan Archive Festival

The regular course is a training program for cultivating oral historians. The 10-session curriculum includes theory lectures and fieldwork, teaching participants how to collect and record local life history through oral interviews.

The theory sessions begin with an introduction to oral history by Professor Heo Young-ran (Dept. of History and Culture, University of Ulsan), followed by Professor Cha Cheol-uk (Institute of Korean Culture, Pusan National University) presenting research and oral history cases related to Busan.

Practical methods for oral recording will be taught in sessions 3 and 4 by Director Kim Sun-jung (Center for Contemporary Korean Studies, Academy of Korean Studies). The program will conclude with a session by Professor Yoon Choong-ro (Population and Society Research Institute, Dongguk University) on how to write with oral data.

In addition, to accumulate more modern and contemporary life history records of the region and to provide ongoing activity opportunities for citizen archivists, the museum has been operating the advanced course — the Regional Oral History Seminar — since January 2024 for graduates of previous courses.

The advanced course focuses on Suyeong-dong in Suyeong-gu, tracing the transformation of space, daily life, and culture in the modern era through interviews with local residents.
Currently, 6 graduates are participating, and the course is expected to be completed by late July. The findings will be published as a book and shared with the public during the Busan Archive Festival in November.

Given the growing importance of managing and preserving historical records, the museum has also added a Website Archiving Workshop as a special course.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to build a digital archive website using open-source software and public data.

Priority for participation will be given to graduates of the 1st and 2nd Citizen Archivist Training Programs, and the workshop is scheduled for late July after the completion of this year’s regular course.

Meanwhile, the Busan Archive Festival, now in its third year, will be held in November, serving as a platform to showcase the outcomes of both the regular and advanced Urban Archiving School courses.

The 2nd Citizen Archivist Training Program, part of the regular course, is open to all citizens.
Applications are accepted from April 8 to April 22. Applicants can download the form from the museum’s website (busan.go.kr/mmch), fill it out, and email it to the program coordinator at local85@korea.kr.

After the deadline, applicants will be individually contacted for interviews to assess their motivation and background.
A total of 20 participants will be selected.
For more details, please contact the Operations Team at ☎ 051-607-8034.

Kim Ki-yong, Director of the Busan Modern and Contemporary History Museum, stated:

“Through the Urban Archiving School, a series of programs where citizens document Busan’s modern and contemporary history, we aim to build a museum filled with the stories of local people and communities.”

Attachments (Reference Materials):

• 1.Overview of Urban Archiving School 2025 Courses

• 2.Schedule of the 2nd Citizen Archivist Training Program