Interview

Personal Interview

The purpose of this assignment is for you to get an example of capitalism as it was lived by people 40 years ago (or more).  And to give you experience listening.Record a 10-15 minute conversation with someone you know on life between the 1950s and 1980s on their experiences with capitalism.    Please obtain oral permission from the person (e.g., at beginning of recording ask, “May I record and share this conversation with my professor for the purposes of this class?”)

Share your findings with a few quotes from the person, and relate them to the themes and topics from the course (cite at least one source!).  Did you give an open-ending line of questioning and they mention anything new or surprising, not mentioned in class? What did you learn through this experience of obtaining this very short oral history? In the first paragraph give the name of your interviewee, their date of birth and the time period you covered in your interview.  250-500 word reflection.
Note:  If you don’t feel you can find someone appropriate to interview, please contact me before Mar 1 and I will help you locate someone.  

Share at least one 1-2 minute segment of the audio recording. You may also share the entire recording if you desire. The purpose of this assignment is for you to get an example of capitalism as it was lived by people 40 years ago (or more).  And to give you experience listening.
Some things you might ask them about:
consuming: how did they shop? What did they buy and where? What grocery stores did they frequent? What kinds of foods were available? What kinds of foods did they eat? Where did they buy clothes, shoes? What do they remember about the process? Did they have any clothes made? What was the shopping experience like?
working: Ask them about their work life or the work life of their parents Where did they work? Were they paid hourly or did they receive a salary? What was the culture like where they worked? What changes did they experience over the course of their career? What were their relations like with their supervisors and fellow employees? In what ways did government regulations affect their work?
Life at home: Do you remember any big purchases in your home? (A color TV, a car (new or used)) air conditioning,…..
Advertising--do you remember advertisements that had an important effect on you
Objects of desire--Do you remember things you really wanted that you either did not did not get?

Upload both the audio clip and your reflection to Moodle–due Mar 21
If you can’t upload your audio clip above, you may upload it here.