from the horse's mouth
125 points
Have you ever known an activist? Care to meet one? How much do you know about them and their experiences? This is your chance do ask why they do it, how they do it, and why they continue to do it. Call, email, text, track down an activist and interview them. You've been learning theories about social movements - well, now you can see how well they fit the experiences of a real life activist.

Instructions: This is going to involve an activist, so find one. Maybe you already know one. But, why in the world would you waste your time talking to someone you already know; you're here for an education, aren't you? Then again, maybe you've never really asked about their activism and this would be a good excuse to do so. But...what if you were feeling bold, and (gasp!) intellectually curious? Try talking to someone new! Check out the resources page on this website to find a bunch of local organizations, events calendars, and other websites where activists lurk. Just be sure that the person you talk to has actually participated in a social movement (we're not talking about charities or party politics here) - the more the better. You might be surprised how easy it is to get people to talk about themselves.

With an interviewee in mind, develop an "interview guide" - an organized sheet of questions or topics that you intend to cover with them. How much do you want them to control the direction that the interview takes? If your questions are very broad, they're likely to tell you things you didn't know you were going to ask about. That can be great! But, you might also want to reign them in a bit and structure your interview around a specific set of questions. This might help you to connect the interview to what we've learned in class (which, of course, is part of your grade). How long should your interview be? That's really up to you, but you'll probably want to keep it in the 30-60 minute range so as not to take up too much of their time.

Now, what will you be handing in? Once you've processed the interview, you're going to tell me what you learned and you're going to tie it to sociological theories of social movements. If you hate writing, you can do this orally - i.e., on tape or digitally recording. If you hate the sound of your own voice, you can do it in writing. I'll expect either 4-5 pages or 4-5 minutes. The challenge of this assignment is to synthesize information about this activist, their experiences, and the things we've discussed in class, all in a very small space (or span of time). So, you're going to have to be concise. I do not need to hear or see your entire interview, just your 4-5 page/minute summary of it.