CULTURAL INTERVIEW 50 Points Possible

Due April 17th 2022

Purpose: to learn more about another person’s experience within his/her culture.

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Choose a target culture that you are interested in studying, and with which you are not very familiar. Examples — the deaf culture, Asian American culture, gay/lesbian culture, African American culture, Jewish, etc.

2. Interview one or more persons who belong to the culture in which you are interested.

3. Choose three topics to explore with the interviewee(s). Suggested topics would be religion, family, food, history, experiences with racism/oppression, education, etc.

4. You may want to:

a. interview more than one person to gain a broader perspective

b. record the interview for your own review (get the interviewee’s permission first!) Since we are living in the times of COVID -19, of course an online or phone interview is fine.

c. In necessary, break up the interview into a few sessions so you do not tire the interviewee or yourself.

5. PLAN YOUR INTERVIEW AHEAD OF TIME. Write down the questions you want to ask. Be flexible with your plan and be ready to change the topics if the interviewee shows signs of uneasiness or stress. Allow the interviewee to lead the discussion at times. You may learn more!

6. Keep the interview informal.

7. Be an attentive listener. This is especially difficult to do when you are taking notes at the same time. Record as many details as you can.

8. Ask open ended questions, such as “Tell me about your childhood growing up in . .” or “How did you or your family get to the Chicago area …” or “What are some of the traditional foods in your culture?”

9. Organize your notes and write the report using the attached guideline. Two – Three typewritten pages would be appropriate for this project

10. Be careful not to generalize. You are learning about one or more individuals within a culture. Their experiences are unique to them and should not be generalized to everyone in that cultural group.

11. HAVE FUN! LEARN SOMETHING NEW ABOUT SOMEONE DIFFERENT FROM YOURSELF!

CULTURAL INTERVIEW REPORT — AREAS WHICH NEED TO BE COVERED

2 – 3 PAGES TYPED

Within your report you will need to include the following content.

1. Identify who you interviewed? What cultural background are they from? What is their educational background? Why did you choose this person to interview (what learning experience did you wish to gain from them)? Other personal information.

2. Where and when did the interview take place?

3. Topics chosen for interview and list of pre-planned questions to ask. (This can be listed on a separate page).

4. Narrative of information gathered. Please do not give a list of questions and replies, but give a summary of topics explored, reactions, and reactions you had. Refer to class discussions and course material as you deliver your information.

5. What comparisons did you make to your lived experiences in relation to the person/persons you interviewed?

6. What did you learn/gain from the interview?

7. Discuss learned class content in your document (for example: cycle of socialization, oppression, examples of oppression, class readings, use course terminology etc).

8. Include your comments and personal reactions to the interview and a summary paragraph. Be careful not to generalize entire populations. Remember, the experiences you learn of may be unique to the people you interview.

9. Review the rubric before you begin writing the report so you are familiar with how it will be graded. As long as the above content is included in your report, you will meet the requirements of the project. Please write the report in paragraph format with 12 font, double spaced and 1 inch margins.