Women in Antiquity

Oral Interview Project

Martha pounding yams for lunch

Nigerian Women Interviewed

Interview questions

Glossary of Nigerian Terms

Photos of the women

More photos from Nigeria (Katrina Korb)

Goals of the project

• get to know a grandmother, aunt, or older woman (older than 60) and her experience growing up as a woman in an earlier era
• Recognize similarities among women from different cultures, eras, and geographical locations
• realize that individual women, even in a particular culture, experience the world in different ways and that they do not all share the same world view
• begin to hypothesize the reasons for cultural patterns
• recognize the importance of particular factors in a woman's life (e.g., education, positions of authority, legal rights, ownership of property, female-to-female relationships) in shaping their experience

Part 1: Preparing for an oral interview

Read quickly through 4-5 of the Nigerian women interviews above to get a sense of how interviews may have different emphases, evoke personal responses and anecdotes, and reveal different types of experiences, based on the personality, sense of decorum, and life story of the woman. Then read the interview questions and think about how you might follow up on these questions and develop a connection with the woman you plan to interview.

Part 2: Write up the interview

In 3-4 pages (single-spaced), type up a select transcript of the interview. Use both your notes and the recording to try to capture the flavor and highlights of the interview. Due: 2nd Friday

Part 3: Analysis of the Interviews

Choose either the American women interviewed or the Nigerian women. First, what patterns do you see running through the interviews? These could emerge from basic demographic information, occupations, daily routines, special occasions, or values that the interviewees have toward their husbands, children, or women friends. Second, what reasons do you see for these patterns? How are these women's lives shaped by structure and values of their society? What questions would you like to answer but don't have sufficient knowledge to answer. Due: Third Wednesday

As you review the patterns, be sure to think about these women's lives in context: who are family and friends? How does these women take part in the events of her family and friends? Some information you may wish to consider:

• legal status (e.g. slave, freedwoman, freeborn)
• class
• ethnicity
• age (child, adolescent, matron)
• health
• wealth
• education
• occupation
• life cycle
• family, relationship with natal
• marital status (unmarried, married, divorced, widowed)
• husband, children, and household slaves, relationship with
• women to women relationships
• women to men relationships
• typical day (when and where)
• public life
• leadership
• religion
• ideal vs. reality

Be sure to document all your major points by quoting from the interviews and referring to theoretical perspectives that we have read or discussed in class. You may use parenthetical citations and "Works Cited," but you must follow a standard citation system (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).