Job Board

CALL FOR APPLICANTS
Crafting Community: The Making of the MCC Oral History Project, Part II
Oral History and Archival Research Assistant

Term: September 8, 2026 – January 30, 2027
Hours: 360 hours total (approx 18 hrs/week)

Deadline to apply: August 31, 2026

We are seeking a curious, detail-oriented student to work with us as our Oral History and Archival Research Assistant for Crafting Community: The Making of the MCC Oral History Project. This position offers hands-on experience in public history, community engagement, and digital archiving. You will assist in researching historical context, preparing for interviews, and processing recorded materials to preserve the stories of the Manitoba Craft Council. This is an excellent opportunity to develop professional research skills while contributing to a meaningful preservation project.

BACKGROUND
For nearly 50 years, the Manitoba Craft Council has served as the primary arts service organization for the province’s craft community, providing promotion, advocacy and support for professional craftspeople. In anticipation of the organization’s 50th anniversary in 2028, MCC has been working on documenting its history through archival research and oral history interviews. The first phase of the project (2025) involved recording interviews with six of MCC’s founding and early board members. The objective was to gain a better understanding of what gave rise to the founding of the organization and document some of its earliest activities, goals, challenges, and achievements.

Building on the foundation of those initial interviews, the objective of this current project is to gain a better understanding and create a permanent record of the Manitoba Craft Council’s continued development from 1982-2000. Through a series of ten oral history interviews with those who were involved as staff, board members, and key volunteers in the MCC during the period in question, we hope to tell the story of the people, places and activities that shaped MCC’s middle years. We want to better understand the motivations and objectives for the organization at that time: what their primary activities were, who was involved and what roles they played, what funding and staff resources were in place, where operations were located, and the basic challenges and joys of that time period within the craft community. We’re also interested in understanding the organization’s place within the broader context of the arts community in Manitoba at that time.

For this phase of the project, we want to hire a post-secondary student to conduct oral history interviews with approximately ten people. These oral histories will be recorded in video and audio formats. Recordings will be edited, transcribed, subtitled, and annotated in order to ensure the final products are accessible to future researchers. Interviews may also be edited into shorter formats to be used on MCC’s social media and website. Archival research into MCC’s significant holdings at the MB Provincial Archives in advance of the interviews will help provide basic contextual information that may be useful in framing the interviews and seeking additional information, clarification, and analysis.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES
– Research & Contextualization: Conduct introductory research local archives to help prepare interview outlines.
– Interview Assistance: Coordinate logistics, set up recording equipment, and conduct oral history interviews.
– Transcription & Editing: Use digital tools to transcribe audio/video recordings and review automated transcripts for accuracy.
– Archival Data Entry: Input metadata, organize digital files, and help log legal release forms according to project standards.
– Team Collaboration: Attend regular meetings with the MCC team and present research summaries to the project supervisor.

QUALIFICATIONS
– Student Status: Currently enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student in History, Art History, Fine Arts, Anthropology, Library/Information Science, English, or a related Humanities discipline.
– Strong Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a high degree of empathy and active listening.
– Research Skills: Basic familiarity with academic databases, library catalog systems, and primary source evaluation.
– Organization: Strong attention to detail, reliability, and the ability to manage project deadlines independently.
– Tech-Savvy: Comfortable learning new software, including digital audio/video recording tools and basic database entry.

ELIGILIBITY
– Applicants must be either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a person granted refugee protection under the law
– Applicants must be registered as students in a recognized Canadian PSE institution in a field of study related to the internship
– MCC welcomes applications from underrepresented communities. If you wish to self–identify (eg. Indigenous, BPOC, Person living with a disability, newcomer to Canada, etc.) please do so in your cover letter.

HOW TO APPLY
To apply for this position, please submit a resume and cover letter to tsutherland@c2centreforcraft.ca. Please put Oral History Assistant in the subject line.

This position is funded through Heritage Manitoba & Culture Works Canada’s Student Work Placement Program.