SUMMARY

Qualitative researcher with experience managing multi-year research projects. M.A./Mgr. Graduate, Oral History and Contemporary History, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University (Univerzita Karlova). Research focused on experiences of migration, identity expression, and transculturalism/transnationalism among Central European migrants.

EDUCATION

Master of Arts (M.A./Mgr.) Oral History and Contemporary History, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University (Univerzita Karlova), summa cum laude

  • Dissertation: Going West: Czech Immigration to California (1960-1970)

  • Coursework: Oral History in Contemporary History Research; Czechoslovak Contemporary History (1945–present); World Contemporary History (1945–present); Biographical Approach to Contemporary History Research; Theory and Methodology of Historical Science; Czechoslovak Economic and Social History (1945–1989); Analysis and Interpretation of Narrative Sources; Large and Small History in the Havel Family; Czechoslovak and Czech Ocean Shipping (1948–1998); Key Texts in Oral History; Feminism and Ecological Movements

  • Scholarships: 2022 Scholarship for Outstanding Study Results; Recipient of 2023 Scholarship for Graduation with Honors

  • Associations: Czech Oral History Association (COHA); Oral History Association (OHA)

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Environmental Analysis and Policy, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, magna cum laude

PUBLICATIONS & REVIEWS

West, Anna. “Imagining Pragues of the past.” Review of Prague: Belonging and the Modern City, by Chad Bryant. CEU Press, February 2024.

West, Anna. Going West: Czech Immigration to California (1960-1970). Diploma thesis, supervisor Wohlmuth Markupová, Jana. Prague: Univerzita Karlova, Fakulta humanitních studií, Program Oral History - Contemporary History, 2023.

West, Anna Caroline. “Czech-ish”: Exploring Identity and Belonging in Exile Among Czechs in California. In J. Hlaváček, J. and M. Vrzgulová (Eds.), The Divided, Yet Together: Borders in Oral History Perspective: 8th International Conference of the Czech Oral History Association. Book of abstracts (pp. 50-51). Bratislava: Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology SAS, Czech Oral History Association, 2023. DOI: 10.31577/2023.9788097443429

CONFERENCES & WORKSHOPS

Biographical Research in Central and Eastern Europe: Traditions and Challenges. 3-4 June 2024. Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czechia. Active participation. 

8th International Conference of the Czech Oral History Association (COHA). Divided, Yet Together: Borders in an Oral History Perspective. 9-10 February 2023. Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia. “Czech-ish”: Exploring Identity and Belonging in Exile Among Czechs in California

AWARDS

2022–2023 Golden Dictaphone, awarded by the Czech Oral History Association for the best student work realized using the oral history method

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Czech Migration to California (1960-1970), Charles University

  • Managed and coordinated a two-year-long oral history research project on Czech emigration to California, following and implementing oral history theory, principles, and practices, including community-centered and trauma-informed oral history. Conducted oral history interviews with five primary narrators about their experiences with emigration from Czechoslovakia; arrival and integration in California (host country); and self-concepts about their identity. Recorded and transcribed oral history interviews using oral history best practices. Conducted extensive historical research and documentation. Final results published in Master’s dissertation in June 2023.

Oral History of William West, Paměť národa/Memory of the Nations