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Library

Petra Madsen

June 9, 2013

|

Hudson, NY

Song

Recorded by

Karen Shakeredge

This interview is available in-person only. Please get in touch if you would like to listen.
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Summary:

Petra Madsen is 42 years old and lives in Hudson, New York. Originally from Germany, she first began working with Camphill communities at 23 years old when she took a chance on an opportunity to work at Vidarasen Camphill in Norway. About twenty years later, she is still working with Camphill, and says she is just as fascinated as she was at 23 years old in Norway.  Over the course of this interview, Petra shared her journey of moving from Germany to Norway to Russia to Copake, NY to Hudson.

She discussed how her own personal life, and family, have adapted to living with Camphill communities over the years. Perta reflects on where the Camphill houses are situated in Hudson, the dynamic of relationships with people in the community, and degrees of independent living for her friends in the Camphill houses. She is planning to continue working with Camphill Hudson in the future and feels the next phase will be focused on expanding to more integrated supported living situations within Hudson.

Themes:
Camphill
,
Family
,
Migration
,
Friendship
,
Interviewer Bio:
Karen Shakeredge

Karen Shakerdge studied cultural anthropology and media at The New School and currently produces documentary films. She has worked for several independent production companies in New York and is currently developing a two hour special for PBS that will focus on food culture in Israel. She came to Oral History Summer School to further develop her interviewing skills, experience with audio recording, and explore the significance of format choices when documenting life histories and doing community based projects. She is interested in pursuing projects that engage identity politics, feelings of belonging or home, special needs communities, and food/health systems.

Additional Info:
Interview language(s):
English
,
Audio quality:
High

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Permissions: 

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please click here to inquire about permissions.

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