The recent emergence of online digital audio archives has brought educators a major step closer to bringing original, reusable spoken word sources into the teaching of history. One might call it the "missing hyperlink" in the college student's multimedia research toolkit: a powerful set of original resources that can allow students to more directly experience and interpret history. Digital archives of spoken word sources permit us to combine the advantages of digital replication and segmentation with the recognized potency of speech, text, and images in classroom projects and historical study. The project's significance extends from the integration of historical audio in undergraduate courses to the transformation of curricular activity in higher education.

The infusion of digital spoken word materials into the humanities and social science classroom in this way will immerse students for the first time in historical utterance that they can replicate, reinterpret, even re-imagine in combination with existing forms of multimedia. Students of history gain a better understanding of historical context and the nuances and complexities of culture. Students of literature will gain better insights into the works of poets and writers through their readings and interviews. Students of ethnography and anthropology will gain experience with oral interviews. Students of political science will gain a better understanding of political rhetoric and change. Students of sociology will broaden their perspectives on social issues and various cultures. Students of linguistics will be exposed to regional dialects and deepen their skills in language analysis. In sum, voices from the past and present should help students and educators see connections between fields and enhance interdisciplinary explorations.