Introduction: Why Local Stories Matter
What Is Shared Stories Lab and Its Oral History Collection?
Shared Stories Lab at Boise State University is an oral history project based on the belief that the campus community benefits from hearing the experiences of alumni, faculty, staff, and other students.
There is power in sharing our stories.
Oral history archives typically feature audio interviews captured so that future generations can better understand an event or time period from one or more people’s recorded perspectives. Researcher Valeri Raleigh Yow in Recording Oral History (2015) suggests this working definition of oral history: “the recording of personal testimony delivered in oral form with purposes beyond the recording itself.”
For this oral history collection, student researchers conducted the interviews. They managed the equipment, asked the questions, and designed the collection. This collection is the result of their work.
Students created the interview process guided by two questions for Boise State University community members:
- Will you describe your path to where you are now?
- What would you want current students to know about your experiences on campus?
Student interviewers practiced active listening techniques before interviewing, so that interviewees would be empowered to share what they wanted to share and to protect those stories not meant for the public. Interviewees also chose the medium. Some chose to share written accounts, while others chose audio format. Some of the narratives submitted were written by first-year students, while others by alumni with extensive writing backgrounds. These audio and written narratives are also archived in the Special Collection and Archives at Albertsons Library, Boise State University.
We value all these stories and different vantage points they reflect.
We value the process involved and the learning that took place as student researchers gained hands-on experience through the interview collection process, and are thankful they were willing to share the oral histories they collected, even when they were not perfect.
We want to thank everyone who shared their stories, our student interviewers (Amy Mallory, Paris Boddie, and Sam Heidelberg), our student editors (Amanda Hawkins and Emily Arnold), Monica Brown, Nicole Carrobis, and the Boise State Office of the Provost.
How Can I Use This Collection?
This archive of stories is for students, faculty, staff, and campus community members to explore and to learn from the voices in this collection. It can be adopted for classroom use to help students:
- learn from the stories of others, with a goal to gain insight into people’s experiences in higher education.
- reflect on their own journey through comparison and contrast with the stories in this archive
- analyze others’ attempts to actively listen, to pay attention to human needs in the interview process, and to identify displays of empathy
- explore patterns within and between shared stories and gather data about experiences in higher education
- Identify individual motivations and societal pressures that impact a person’s higher education experience
Prior to assigning this archive in courses, we encourage faculty to introduce students to concepts and strategies for actively listening to the stories of others. Faculty members might also explore ethical interviewing practices such shared authority in the interview process, informed consent, and interview question development.
The goal of this collection was not perfection; it was learning–learning how to ethically ask for the stories of others, learning how to ethically listen, learning from our mistakes and learning from our successes.
This collection is an ongoing project. We invite others to share their stories and to add their voices.
