Research Guides: Amp Up Your Archives!: Covid-19 & Me: Oral History Project

About

This project hopes to bring together narratives of how people experienced the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic through oral history interviews.

Current undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty, administrators, and alumni of Princeton University are welcomed to participate in this project. Please watch the training video for more information.

Overview and Training

Forms and Resources

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The interviewer release form is a legal document the interviewer signs before conducting an interview. For this project, you only need to fill out this form once.

Narrator Release Form
This form is for the narrator to complete before submitting their interview. It is recommended that the narrator reviews the pdf version of the release form before completing the online version.

This legal document allows the narrator to set the access restrictions and copyright for the interview. Please complete the release form before submitting your interview.

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Suggested Interview Questions

What’s your name?
How old are you?
What is your class year?
Where did you grow up?/Where are you from?
What is your family life like?
What are the important things people should know about who you are now?
What has shaped your sense of who you are?

What is your class year?
What are you studying?
Why did you choose Princeton?
What were your expectations? Has the experience been what you expected?
What organizations are you a part of? Describe them.
What communities are you a part of? Describe them.
What is your favorite thing about living in Princeton and/or New Jersey?
What is the hardest thing about living in Princeton and/or New Jersey?
Do you travel on the weekends? Where to?
What is your favorite thing about working at Princeton?
What is the hardest thing about working at Princeton?
What has brought you joy while at Princeton? Describe how you celebrate your joy.
What has brought you stress while at Princeton? Describe how you cope with your stresses.

What do you do at Princeton?
Why did you choose to come work at Princeton?
When did you start working at Princeton?
What were your expectations? Has the experience been what you expected?
What is your favorite thing about working in Princeton and/or New Jersey?
What is the hardest thing about working in Princeton and/or New Jersey?
What has brought you joy while at Princeton? Describe how you celebrate your joy.
What has brought you stress while at Princeton? Describe how you cope with your stresses.

Why did you choose Princeton?
What were your expectations? Were they met? Why or why not?
What was your favorite thing about living in Princeton and/or New Jersey?
What was the hardest thing about living in Princeton and/or New Jersey?
What organizations were you a part of? Describe them.
What communities were you a part of? Describe them.
What did you study? What was your career path?
What brought you joy after Princeton? Describe how you celebrate your joy.
What brought you stress after Princeton? Describe how you cope with your stresses.

How did you feel during the early weeks of March? How did your feelings change in the following weeks?
How did you feel when you were informed the remainder of the semester/Reunions would be held online? How did you adjust?
How did you feel when you were informed the remainder of 2020 would be held online yet some staff were asked to be on campus? How did you adjust? How did the staff adjust?
Were you able to work from home? How was the adjustment? If no, how did it feel to work on campus? Or were you able to work at all?
How did covid-19 affect your Spring 2020? How has the virus (and the precautions taken to prevent it spreading) impacted your daily life?
Did you have to relocate? When?
How did you connect with people? Family? Friends? Colleagues?
How were you receiving campus news updates? How were you receiving Covid updates in general?
Do you know anyone who has gotten COVID-19?
The summer of 2020 saw the United States and the University focus on anti-racism actions, what was your experience during this summer? The following years?
What were some of the hardships you experienced?
How did you handle your stress?
How did you find joy? Comfort?
How did you take care of your health (mental and physical)?

How have your feelings about the pandemic overall changed since 2020? What was the turning point in the global pandemic for you?
How did you transition from working in person full time to working remote full time to working back in person? If you didn't work remotely, how did it feel to have people return to the office?
How has the constantly changing landscape of the pandemic affected you? Family life? Social life? Your work?
What were some of the hardships you experienced since 2020?
How did you find joy after 2020? Comfort?
How did you take care of your health (mental and physical) after 2020?

Do you have any advice for future students?
Do you have anything to say to your future self?
Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about what you're feeling or experiencing right now?
Is there anything you want to add?