Bring clarity to your curiosity.
Frequently Asked Questions
#1 What do you mean by “undertold” histories? Undertold is not a word.
Correct, undertold is not a word. Please see our definitions page for clarification.
#2 What is New York City history?
When I run a Google search for “NYC history,” I mostly receive results about Dutch settlers.
It is the belief of this project that history education must reflect and respond to the specific needs and wants of that group of learners; that it must be inclusive and culturally responsive.
The history of New York City — the changes and continuities of what has happened on this land over time — needs to include the stories of leaders, movements, events, and places not currently recognized by most K-12 materials and resources.
#3 Why use the plural “histories”?
For this project, the plural of history used is meant to emphasize how New Yorkers are a wide variety of peoples from all over the world.
#4 What is the purpose of this project?
To empower historically excluded New Yorkers so that we may see ourselves and our communities represented in the stories of our shared land. The final product is yet to be imagined. Together we will create the following:
a collaborative creative representation of our experience as researchers
a report, model, or essay — reflections of what we have realized through meeting discussions, edited by the lead researcher
#5 Do I get paid? Does it cost anything to join?
This project is both free to join and unpaid. If we have any in-person meetings, your transportation costs will be not be reimbursed.
#6 What is the time commitment?
For researchers, the commitment is approximately 3-5 hours per week. It is asked that you dedicate time for six interactive-workshop-style working meetings, each one about 2 hours long. They occur approximately monthly. We highly encourage researchers to also participate in 3+ community forums (six total).
For community forum attendees, you don’t have a commitment. You can join us for one forum or many or all.
There are no repercussions to missing meetings. Everyone has the right to come and go as they please. Every part of this is voluntary.
The duration of this project is April 2020 to Fall 2021.
#7 How am I qualified? What skills are required?
Community Forums are open to any adult in the NYC area who identifies as a New Yorker.
Working Meetings are open to New Yorkers who identify as Brazilian/of Brazilian heritage.
#8 E se eu só falo português? Posso me juntar de qualquer maneira?
Community Forums are held in English only.
“Working Meetings” serão tão bilíngues quanto os membros de sua equipe Em outras palavras, vai depender de quem aparecer e se eles falam português fluentemente ou não. O formulário de consentimento para se adherir à nossa equipe de pesquisa também é fornecido em português. Por isso, convidamos você a se juntar a nós e descobrir!
Working Meetings will be as bilingual as its team. In other words, it depends on who comes and if they speak fluent Portuguese. The consent form to join our research team is provided in Portuguese as well, so we welcome you to join us and find out!