Monday: Ursula Bielski!

Questions for Ursula Bielski:

a) 10 a.m. class

What method/methods do you use to collect oral histories?
Why do you do the work you do?
Who inspired you?
How long have you been doing this kind of writing/collecting of history?
Why is oral history sometimes better than traditional documentation?
What’s the most difficult part of interviewing someone?
How do you find/choose your interview subjects?
Do you get people whose perceptions you do not trust?
Do you find that you are often talking to people who are on the margins of society?
What other forms of history are you interested in?
How does your writing relate to your job?
Do you do any other history-writing or research?
What is your writing process like? (How do you integrate your interviews, notes, research, and personal writing style?)

b) 11 a.m. class

How did you get started collecting history in this way?
How long have you been doing this kind of work?
What inspired you to think of history in this way (i.e. through ghost stories)?
What’s your method of taking an oral history?
How do you choose an interview subject?
What is the relationship, in your philosophy, between ghost stories and history?
In all of your research experiences, who is your favorite interview subject and why?
How do you think your view of history connects to ideas about social justice? (Are there injustices in the way we normally organize history?)
Do you think that the poor or other marginalized groups are more likely to share this kind of history with you?
What kinds of social groups do you interact with most often?
How do you think your work connects to cultural traditions related to passing down information orally/story-telling?
Does your work give you any insight into psychological patterns in society or societal behaviors?
How do you get people to open up?
Do you have to distinguish between fact and belief when you talk to someone, or are you simply recording an individual’s perception?
What themes, besides ghosts, connect the various stories you hear?
What kind of statement (socially, intellectually, artistically, historically) does your work make?
Have you ever been criticized for this way of collecting history?
What is your writing process like? (How do you integrate your interviews, notes, research, and personal writing style?)