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Wellesley College Research Guides

FREN / WGST 336: Feminisms in the Wake of the Global #MeToo Movement (in English)

Welcome!

Welcome to the library research guide for FREN / WGST 336.  If you need help identifying an expert, doing background research, or preparing for your interview, feel free to make an appointment to chat with me!  If none of the times you can find work for you, email me.

 

https://wellesley.libcal.com/appointments/laura

Tips for your interview

Profiles should focus on the professional work of your subjects—their research or professional work in particular—and not on their personal information. Your job is primarily to talk about ideas or the practical/political/cultural topics related to your beat.

  • For academic experts, try resources such as academic databases or scholarly organizations to find potential interviewees.

  • Check out an expert's personal website or profile page at their institutional website – you’re primarily interested in their knowledge of your “beat”, but this is helpful to get a fuller sense of their perspectives, interests, and knowledge to inform your questions.

  • Check their posts on social media (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads, etc.).
  • Look for previous news coverage, media appearances (podcasts, TV, print interviews), filmed talks or conference panels.
  • Read their recent relevant work! This may take a bit of time, but will help you to ask more interesting and relevant questions.
  • As you do your research, jot down questions that you would like to ask the guest. Be prepared to have *many more* questions than can be asked in the allotted time! Max Linsky of Longform Podcast says to “do your research and write down tons and tons of questions. Only bring 15-20 questions to the interview. Only ask 10 of them.” (as quoted in Friedman, "The art of the interview", Columbia Journalism Review)
  • What are specific questions for your expert that are not already answered by publicly available materials? If you have heard them make statements elsewhere, you can restate these and take them a step further.
  • Ask open ended questions (i.e., questions that cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no”). Ask closed ended questions only to clarify facts.
  • Ask one question at a time. Multi-part questions can get confusing.
  • Consider if there are questions you might want to share in advance (this still allows for follow up questions, but can make the interviewee feel more comfortable).

Have a general idea of the “flow” of the interview:

  • Make time for logistics, or cover those in advance (see Pre-Interview Logistics)
  • What is the logical order of the topics / questions?
  • What are the most important elements you must get to if an earlier question runs long or isn’t what you expected?
  • What questions are you likely to cut for time? Make room for follow up questions to redirect to a topic or dig deeper for something important.
  • The more conversational the tone, the better the interview will be!

     

  • Give the interviewee an overview of the profile / interview and its direction. Who is the assumed audience? This will help them to cater their answers specifically to that group.
  • Give your guest an opportunity to ask questions.
  • IF the recording or written interview is going to made available to those outside this course:
    • Will this be made publicly available? If so, who will have access, and would it be publicized or promoted?
    • Get them to sign off on any necessary paperwork, e.g. release form