Unit II Scholarly Activity Cultural Interview Pick a person to interview who has had a different cultural experience than you. Maybe the person or person’s family is from a different region or country. Other forms of diversity or difference are acceptable too. You may interview someone of any age, and it is OK if he or she is a co-worker, neighbor, friend, relative, spouse, or someone else you know. However, please keep in mind the spirit of the assignment. If you are interviewing someone you know well, please work hard in the interview to gain a deeper insight and appreciation for their experience. Please conduct the interview face-to-face, through Skype/Face Time, or over the phone. The interview should be a minimum of 20 minutes long. Please take notes during the interview. If the interviewee gives you permission, you can record the interview to help you later when writing your assignment. It is not required to record or video tape the interview. You will not be turning in any recordings. You will be turning in a written assignment based on your interview. Written Assignment Overview: Write a two-page essay about your interview experience. Your essay should include an introduction of your interviewee, summary of the interview answers in essay format, discussion of how the interview content relates to course concepts, and a final section with some concluding thoughts about the interview experience. You will be required to use the following headings: Introduction, Summary of Interview, Culture & Geography, and Conclusion. Interview Questions and Guidance Unit 2: Cultural Interview Assignment This document includes: Assignment Objective Assignment Specifics Tips on Conducting an Interview Possible Interview Questions Assignment Objective: To learn more about and gain a deeper appreciation for cultural difference. To investigate the relationship between culture and place. Sharing and learning more about another’s cultural story and differences will give you greater cultural competence! Written Assignment Specifics Introduction: In the first paragraph of your essay, please introduce your interviewee. Who is she/he? How old is he/she? How do you know the person? Why did you decide to interview the person? Here is where you provide a little background or biographical information. Please also indicate how you conducted the interview (phone, in-person, Skype, etc.) in the introduction. Interview Summary: Summarize what you learned about the person’s culture and life from the questions you asked. You do not have to write about every single thing you talked about. You can provide the highlights. *Below is a list of possible questions and tips on conducting the interview. Culture & Geography: Discuss at least one relationship you saw in the interviewee’s story between place and culture. You can also discuss course topics of population, immigration, migration, or globalization in terms of this connection. Conclusion: For this final ...

1. Unit II Scholarly Activity
Cultural Interview
Pick a person to interview who has had a different cultural
experience than you. Maybe the person or person’s family is
from a different region or country. Other forms of diversity or
difference are acceptable too. You may interview someone of
any age, and it is OK if he or she is a co-worker, neighbor,
friend, relative, spouse, or someone else you know. However,
please keep in mind the spirit of the assignment. If you are
interviewing someone you know well, please work hard in the
interview to gain a deeper insight and appreciation for their
experience.
Please conduct the interview face-to-face, through Skype/Face
Time, or over the phone. The interview should be a minimum of
20 minutes long. Please take notes during the interview. If the
interviewee gives you permission, you can record the interview
to help you later when writing your assignment. It is not
required to record or video tape the interview. You will not be
turning in any recordings. You will be turning in a written
assignment based on your interview.
Written Assignment Overview: Write a two-page essay about
your interview experience. Your essay should include an
introduction of your interviewee, summary of the interview
answers in essay format, discussion of how the interview
content relates to course concepts, and a final section with some
concluding thoughts about the interview experience. You will
be required to use the following headings: Introduction,
Summary of Interview, Culture & Geography, and Conclusion.
Interview Questions and Guidance
Unit 2: Cultural Interview Assignment
This document includes:
Assignment Objective
Assignment Specifics
Tips on Conducting an Interview

2. Possible Interview Questions
Assignment Objective: To learn more about and gain a deeper
appreciation for cultural difference. To investigate the
relationship between culture and place. Sharing and learning
more about another’s cultural story and differences will give
you greater cultural competence!
Written Assignment Specifics
Introduction: In the first paragraph of your essay, please
introduce your interviewee. Who is she/he? How old is he/she?
How do you know the person? Why did you decide to interview
the person? Here is where you provide a little background or
biographical information. Please also indicate how you
conducted the interview (phone, in-person, Skype, etc.) in the
introduction.
Interview Summary: Summarize what you learned about the
person’s culture and life from the questions you asked. You do
not have to write about every single thing you talked about.
You can provide the highlights. *Below is a list of possible
questions and tips on conducting the interview.
Culture & Geography: Discuss at least one relationship you saw
in the interviewee’s story between place and culture. You can
also discuss course topics of population, immigration,
migration, or globalization in terms of this connection.
Conclusion: For this final section of your essay, talk about how
the interview experience went for you and your interviewee.
How did it go? Reflect on what you learned from the
interview experience. Did it deepen your cultural awareness or
appreciation? How?
Cultural Interview Written Assignment Requirements Checklist
Essay contains the following headings:
Introduction, Summary of Interview, Culture & Geography, and
Conclusion.

3. Essay includes the following:
Introduction: Please introduce your interviewee to the reader.
Describe how you conducted the interview.
Interview Summary: Summarize what you learned about the
person’s culture and life from the questions you asked.
Culture & Geography: Discuss at least one relationship you saw
in the interviewee’s story between place and culture. You can
also discuss course topics of population, immigration,
migration, or globalization in terms of this connection.
Conclusion: For this final section of your essay, talk about how
the interview experience went for you and your interviewee.
Reflect on what you learned from the interview experience. Did
it deepen your cultural awareness or appreciation? How?
2 pages (12 point font – double spaced) or 500 word minimum
for the assignment.
No Sources are required for the interviewbut if you cite the text
book or another source you will need to use APA in-text
citations and add a reference list. If you directly quote the
person you interviewed in your essay please just indicate that
by using quotes.
Tips on Conducting an Interview
1. Explain to the person you are interviewing a little bit about
the assignment. Most people are happy to help a student and to
share about their life! Please put them at ease. Let them know

4. it is up to them what they share and that anything they discuss
about their history and life is valuable. Let them know you
appreciate them talking with you. Ask permission to take notes
or record the interview.
1. Pick a quiet comfortable setting to conduct the interview or
make sure the phone/skype interview is done in an appropriate
setting free of distraction.
1. It is important to focus on your interviewee. You want to
make eye contact, show interest, and be a good listener.
*Please keep in mind sometimes when you are asking questions
about culture and a person’s background it can sometimes get
very emotional for that person. Sometimes your interviewee
will get choked up or cry. It is important to show empathy.
1. If they seem uncomfortable about a topic or question, please
just move on. If they don’t want to talk about certain things
that is OK. There are plenty of things they can talk about to
still make for a great interview. This is not about getting
answers to every question; it is an experience of getting to know
this person’s life story better and making a connection at a
deeper level.
1. Ask open ended questions. In other words, you are asking
how, why, for examples, etc. Don’t be afraid to ask for
clarification if you don’t understand. Also a good technique is
to say things like “can you tell me a little bit more about that?”
Don’t be afraid to add follow up questions that fit and seem to
flow. Like I said it is not about hitting every question. It is
about getting to know the person’s history (story) better.
Encourage! Think of this more as a guided conversation.
1. Prepare interview questions ahead of time. You can choose
from the questions below, and you can also add your own
questions.
1. It is always good to end your series of interview questions by
asking, “Is there anything we haven’t discussed that you want to
share about yourself?”
1. Finally, please make sure at the end of the interview to thank
the person for taking the time to do the interview with you.

5. Remember: It is important to have a plan for the interview
before it begins. Create a list of questions you want to cover in
the interview. You do not need to cover all the questions on
your list. You don’t have to ask them in a specific order. It is
natural for one question to lead to another or back to another
topic. Below is a list of questions you can choose from. You
can also make up your own questions.
Possible Interview Questions
Questions to gain biographical information include things like:
What is your name? Where were you born? Where did you
grow up? Do you have siblings? What is your work (volunteer
and/or paid), or educational background?
If the focus of your interview involves immigration or someone
who is second-generation, questions could include things like:
Where did you move from? When? Why did you or your family
leave to come to the US? How was the adjustment to life in the
US? What do you miss from your homeland or what have your
parents/grandparents mentioned that they miss? Were there any
customs you and your family have worked to preserve? Are
there any customs that have changed or you have given up?
Why? What is the best thing about living in the US? What is
the worst thing? Do you feel like you are assimilating? Is living
in America what you or your family expected it would be like?
Explain.
*If focusing on a regional move like maybe interviewing
someone who moved to the North from the South. You could
adapt the above questions to reflect migrating within the US.
Questions about Culture:
If English is their second language, ask the person what
languages they speak? Ask if they still speak the native
language and in what settings (home, school, work).
What holiday traditions do you celebrate in your family? Can
you describe some of the special customs, foods, or memories?
Are there important traditions passed on to you from your
parents or grandparents? Have the traditions been changed or
adapted?

6. Ask questions about food. Are there any foods or recipes
important in your culture? Have they been passed down? Have
the food traditions been changed or adapted? Why? Is food an
important part of celebrations and culture? Is there someone
who prepares the food for holidays and celebrations?
Ask the interviewee to share stories about their childhood. This
could include asking the interviewee to discuss favorite
childhood memories. Maybe a house they grew up in? A
neighborhood or school? You can even ask them about cultural
or societal differences they see from when they were young and
today. Did they grow up in the city or country? Did they have
lots of family around? Do they miss the place they grew up?
You can ask about religion. What is their faith background
and/or current faith? What role does religion play in their life
or family life? How did church or faith impact their growing
up? Experiences?
Some other interesting cultural questions include:
Have you ever been excluded by others based on your cultural
differences?
Have you ever been discriminated against due to race or
ethnicity? In what way?
Are there any stereotypes or misconceptions about your culture?
Can you please explain?
Are there any gestures, actions, or words that are seen as very
disrespectful in your culture?
In your culture, how are the elderly viewed?
Are there any specific views on parenting or raising children in
your culture? Who are the main caretakers of children? Is the
importance of family stressed in your culture? How?
What is considered respectful in your culture? How do you
show respect in your culture? How do you greet people in your
culture that are family, friends, or strangers?
How is personal space and physical contact viewed in your
culture?
What roles are typical in your culture in terms of gender or age?

7. How is gender viewed? Are there specific gender roles or
gender bias?
How is the concept of time viewed in your culture?
Are there any heirlooms, objects, or places that help you stay
connected to your culture?
Is there anything we haven’t discussed that you want to share
about yourself or your culture?
Note: The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural
Heritage has some wonderful information on how to conduct
oral histories and an interview guide. Some of the possible
interview questions above were adapted from their guide. Feel
free to check out their oral history resources at
http://www.folklife.si.edu/education_exhibits/resources/guide/in
troduction.aspx
References
Hunt, M. (2003). The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History
Interviewing Guide. Retrieved from
http://www.folklife.si.edu/education_exhibits/resources/guide/in
troduction.aspx