The Sedai Project is the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre’s oral history collection. It is committed to collecting, documenting, preserving and sharing the history of the Japanese Canadians. The collection holds irreplaceable communal and historic knowledge through the testimonies of Japanese Canadian survivors of the Canadian government’s policies of internment, forced dispersal, and exile during World War II. It is a critical resource to the heritage and understanding of Japanese Canadian experiences and fosters intergenerational learning and community healing.
From 2024 – 2026, the JCCC Heritage Department is the recipient of a grant from the JC Legacies Society, which will allow the JCCC to fully digitize, preserve, make accessible, and expand the Sedai collection. Crucial to this process is the inclusion of an Outreach and Education Coordinator with expertise in oral history interviewing, building community relationships, and working with youth.
We are looking for an individual who brings a wealth of expertise on oral histories and navigating and building community relationships. Through their leadership, they will shape our outreach and education efforts with regards to the Sedai Project.
The Oral History Outreach and Education Coordinator will work to grow the Sedai Oral History collection through partnerships and educational programs. Their responsibilities include:
- Fostering partnership and support of Nikkei organizations and community members through inperson and virtual workshops to teach oral history skills and encourage smaller organizations to collect their own interviews
- Facilitating donation of interviews and obsolete moving image media from smaller organizations and community members to ensure their long-term preservation with Sedai:
- Conducting a limited number of oral history interviews;
- Overseeing Youth Researcher program in 2026, which empowers Japanese Canadian and other racialized youth to collect oral histories and curate short documentaries in pairs. This will include setting training curriculum, guiding and supporting youth researcher’s work and overseeing the project outcomes including documentary creation and launch event.
- Strategic planning for future of collection; including creating policies on permissions and terms of use for donated oral history material (in conjunction with Audiovisual Archivist), chairing a Content Advisory Committee on future directions for the collection, and identifying opportunities (e.g. grants, events) for activating Sedai in the future.
- Communications and other tasks, including selection of video clips for public dissemination and lending support to other JCCC and Heritage initiatives.
- Some travel within Ontario may be required for this position.
We are looking for an individual who brings a wealth of expertise on oral histories and navigating and building community relationships. Through their leadership, they will shape our outreach and education efforts with regards to the Sedai Project.
Required skills and experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in history, anthropology, social science, heritage or film-related field, or a related degree. Equivalent combination of related education/training and experience may be considered,
- Extensive experience conducting oral histories, qualitative research, or community-based research,
- In-depth understanding of ethics and respectful relationship management in a community research or archival context,
- Experience with teaching and/or facilitation, including developing curricula and delivering successful workshops,
- Excellent relationship management skills,
- Experience mentoring, training, or managing youth,
- Experience managing multiple competing priorities,
- Strong interest in preserving community histories and/or Japanese Canadian history,
- Must work well in a diverse, small team environment,
- Must be eligible to work in Canada
Assets
- Experience with videography,
- Experience working within the Japanese Canadian community and knowledge of Japanese,
- Canadian community organizations,
- Experience in a community archive setting,
- Japanese language competency,
- Valid driver’s license.
Cover letters and accompanying resumes are requested via email with a subject line of “Sedai Project – Oral History Outreach and Education Coordinator”, to [email protected]. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 pm on November 27 th, 2024. Please refer to Job Posting #55243.
The position is on location at the JCCC, 6 Sakura Way, Toronto, ON M3C 1Z5, with some ability to work remotely.
Duration: 2 years
Work Schedule: 9:30am – 5:00pm | Monday to Friday, 7 hours per day (may require occasional evening and weekend work)
Target start and end dates: January 6th, 2025 to December 31st, 2026 (Note: As this is a grant-funded role, all work must be completed by December 31st, 2026 due to grant stipulations)
Language of Work: English, Japanese would be an asset.
About the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Heritage Department
For 60 years, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) has served as the gathering point for the Japanese Canadian community and for those of non-Japanese ancestry who have an interest in things Japanese. The JCCC, through its Heritage Department, is committed to collecting, documenting, preserving, and sharing the history of the Japanese Canadians. The Heritage Department mandate is to introduce the culture, history, and legacy of Japanese Canadians to all Canadians while creating a tribute to the history of the Nikkei community and their contributions to the building of our nation. Since 1963 the JCCC’s motto has been and continues to be, “friendship through culture.”
