Interview Community:  Hollins Alumnae

Short List of Questions for First Interview:

1. What is your full name?
2. Tell me about your childhood
   • When/Where were you born?
3. Tell me about your family
   • What were relationships like in your family?
   • Was anyone in your family involved in social change work, volunteer/community work?
   • How have your family values affected your social change work?
   • How have family members responded to your social change work?
4. Tell me about your education
   • What made you decide to come to Hollins?
   • What was life at Hollins like for you?
   • What kinds of activities/clubs/organizations were you involved with at Hollins?
   • Were you involved in any activism/leadership/social change while a student at Hollins?
   • Were there any specific classes or professors that influenced your decisions about social change work?
   • How do you feel your education at a women’s university has affected your life and community work?
   • Tell me about your graduate education experiences
5. Tell me about the various jobs you’ve had
   • How did you decide on your current/former occupation?
   • Did/do you find this work satisfying? Why/not?
   • What has your experience as a woman been like in this/these field(s)?
   • Do you feel your paid work contributes to social change? Why/not?
6. How do you define “activism”? What does that term mean to you?
   • Do you consider yourself an activist? (Why/not?)
7. Tell me about your social change/activist work?
   • What types of social change work have you engaged in?
   • What or who inspired you to do this work?
   • How/why is this work meaningful to you?
8. What made you decide to take part in this life history project?
   • How do you feel about participating in this project?

 PROBE QUESTIONS:

• How did you feel about that?
• Can you tell me more about that?
• I’m interested in what you said about …
• What did that mean to you?
• Has that meaning (of X …) changed?  How/Why?
• Can you expand on that?
• Can you relate that to…
• How did that influence you?

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