The University Pandemic Oral History project team have been moving through staff interviews, documenting how our colleagues have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. The experience has been fascinating and rewarding and we can’t thank those who have volunteered to be interviewed enough!
Though we are moving on to Phase Two of the project, Phase One is by no means closed. We still have staff interviews to conduct and should any more staff members wish to take part then please do email archives@stir.ac.uk. We put together a list of FAQs on our website to give staff an idea of what would be asked of them.
That being said, it is time to turn our thoughts to Phase Two and begin to ask how students experienced this period of history.
We feel that students would feel more comfortable discussing their experiences with their peers and to that end we are now seeking 6-8 student volunteers to be trained in the practise of oral history interviewing so that they can conduct these student interviews for the project. These volunteers will be expected to do the following:
- Attend oral history training given by the project organisers (Rosie Al-Mulla, Assistant Archivist; Dr Stephen Bowman, Lecturer; Sarah Bromage (Archivist, Scottish Political Archive)
- Help to create the questions that will be used in the Phase Two interviews together with the project organisers
- Interview students who volunteer to be interviewees for the project
There are further volunteering opportunities with Archives and Special Collections, summarising these interviews for the online catalogue but this is not mandatory.
By volunteering on the project you will gain significant demonstrable skills in the creation of oral history and project management. You will also be helping to create history and allow the voices of your peers to be saved in perpetuity. Please note that students who volunteer to be interviewers may also attend their own interview if they would like their experiences of the pandemic to be recorded.
This opportunity is open to students at any stage in their studies but as there will be a reasonable amount of time commitment involved, please think carefully about how you will fit your work on this project around your studies. No previous experience is necessary and students from all courses are welcome. We expect this phase of the project to last until the end of summer 2022. Please note that the interviews will be done remotely on Teams and training can also be done remotely so it is not necessary for you to be based on campus or in Stirling to take advantage of this opportunity.
To apply, please email the following to rosie.al-mulla@stir.ac.uk:
- Name, student number and email address
- Course and year of study
- Why you are interested in taking part in the project (250 words max.)
- What you hope to get out of taking part in the project (250 words max.)
- How you expect to fit project work around your studies (250 words max.)
Any questions regarding the opportunity can also be directed to rosie.al-mulla@stir.ac.uk. Please express interest by 31st March.
