Conceptions of the Cold War Overview As your reading and Discussions point out, one of the biggest issues that citizens and politicians confronted during the 1960s was the Cold War, which might be defined as  the geopolitical tensions, and proxy wars fought between the United States and the Soviet Union.  Indeed, for anyone who grew up during the 1950s, 60s, or 70s, the Cold War was a household topic everyone seemed to understand. Assignment The purpose of this assignment is to analyze how people understand the Cold War today. For example, what do everyday people today think of when they hear the term “Cold War”? This is what you are going to find out! In this assignment, you will do brief interviews with three people, asking them about their conceptions of the Cold War. Your interviewees can be anyone of your choosing: family members, friends, and so on. Below are some suggested questions that you may want to ask: What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the term Cold War? Did you ever study the Cold War in school? If so, what are some aspects of the Cold War that you remember? Who were the parties involved in the Cold War? Can you name any key events that we mainly associate with the Cold War? Take notes on what each of your respondents say. You will need these notes to refer to later when you do the formal write-up of the assignment. After you have completed the assignment, write up your findings in a brief essay, which addresses the following: Using quotes from your interviews, describe how each of your three respondents understand the Cold War. Explain to what extent their definition/understanding of the Cold War differs from the definition above (see the bold typeface in the  Overview  section above). If your respondents’ understanding of the Cold War is different from the way the Cold War is defined in this course, explain why that might be the case. (Also, if their definition of the Cold War is very similar, explain this as well!) Your essay should be 2-3 pages in length (500–700 words) Double spaced #12 font –Times New Roman 1” margins on all sides Separate cover page and reference page A minimum of one (1) outside (including texts from the course, if you like) scholarly source Remember: Wikipedia, encyclopedias, and encyclopedia-type sources (answers.com, infoplease.com and such) are not considered academic sources. Unit 2 Assignment Outline: Conceptions of the Cold War This assignment requires that you interview at least three people to investigate how people understand the Cold War. If you cannot interview in person, you may interview through email or social media. The following questions are suggested: What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the term Cold War? Did you ever study the Cold War in school? If so, what are some aspects of the Cold War that you remember? Who were the parties involved in the Cold War? Can you name any key events that we mainly associate with the Cold War? Take notes during your.

1. Conceptions of the Cold War
Overview
As your reading and Discussions point out, one of the biggest
issues that citizens and politicians confronted during the 1960s
was the Cold War, which might be defined as
the geopolitical tensions, and proxy wars fought between the
United States and the Soviet Union.
Indeed, for anyone who grew up during the 1950s, 60s, or 70s,
the Cold War was a household topic everyone seemed to
understand.
Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze how people
understand the Cold War today. For example, what do everyday
people today think of when they hear the term “Cold War”?
This is what you are going to find out!
In this assignment, you will do brief interviews with three
people, asking them about their conceptions of the Cold War.
Your interviewees can be anyone of your choosing: family
members, friends, and so on. Below are some suggested
questions that you may want to ask:
What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the
term Cold War?
Did you ever study the Cold War in school? If so, what are
some aspects of the Cold War that you remember?
Who were the parties involved in the Cold War?
Can you name any key events that we mainly associate with the
Cold War?
Take notes on what each of your respondents say. You will need
these notes to refer to later when you do the formal write-up of
the assignment.
After you have completed the assignment, write up your
findings in a brief essay, which addresses the following:
Using quotes from your interviews, describe how each of your
three respondents understand the Cold War.
Explain to what extent their definition/understanding of the

2. Cold War differs from the definition above (see the bold
typeface in the
Overview
section above).
If your respondents’ understanding of the Cold War is different
from the way the Cold War is defined in this course, explain
why that might be the case. (Also, if their definition of the Cold
War is very similar, explain this as well!)
Your essay should be 2-3 pages in length (500–700 words)
Double spaced
#12 font –Times New Roman
1” margins on all sides
Separate cover page and reference page
A minimum of one (1) outside (including texts from the course,
if you like) scholarly source
Remember: Wikipedia, encyclopedias, and encyclopedia-type
sources (answers.com, infoplease.com and such) are not
considered academic sources.
Unit 2 Assignment Outline:
Conceptions of the Cold War
This assignment requires that you interview at least three people
to investigate how people understand the Cold War. If you
cannot interview in person, you may interview through email or
social media. The following questions are suggested:
What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the
term Cold War?
Did you ever study the Cold War in school? If so, what are
some aspects of the Cold War that you remember?
Who were the parties involved in the Cold War?
Can you name any key events that we mainly associate with the
Cold War?
Take notes during your interviews so you can provide quotes in
your write-up. If the people you are interviewing are not
knowledgeable about the Cold War, do not worry! In this case
no data is still data
J

3. Continue to keep notes in the interview because you will need
them later.
Outline for write-up:
Section One: Introduction
Lead off your write-up with 3-4 sentences
introducing the topic to your reader. State that this is an
interview project with the goal of discovering how people
understand the Cold War.
Section Two: Define the Cold War for context
Provide 3-4 sentences summarizing what the Cold
War was and why we should know about it. You must cite
sources here.
Section Three: What did your interviewees know?
Compare what the people you interviewed know
about the Cold War (using quotes) with what you wrote about
the Cold War in the above paragraph. How close are they? This
is the main section of the paper and may be more than one
paragraph. To cite interviews within an assignment you use the
form (Last name, date) just as though you were citing any other
source. You must cite your interviews because you are using
their words.
Section Four: Explain the differences
How different were the definitions? What do you
think might be some reasons for that difference? In this section
you will use your own ideas (which you do not have to cite) but
you may also bring in information about the Cold War from
other sources or more quotes from interviews (which you will
need to cite). What about if the definitions were the same? Why
might that be?
Section Five: Conclusion
Conclude your assignment with 3-4 sentences
summing up what you found. Your essay should be 2-3 pages in
length (500–700 words).
Reference Note: How to source a personal interview
K.W. Schaie (personal communication, April 18, 1993)