Workshop 2: Expert Interviews

Today’s Session

• Explore the use and purpose of expert interviews (both academic and popular media)

• Understand what makes an interview work by thinking about ‘you’, ‘them’, and ‘everyone else’

• Reflect on preparation and re-presentation

Outcomes• By the end of today’s session you should be able to:

• Critically reflect on what an expert interview might bring to your own personal and professional development

• Understand pre and post production of expert interview

• Be prepared for this week’s individual task (revealed at the end)

What is an

interview?

And what are we looking for in one?

R.W. Connell University of SidneyMasculinities (1995)

Research interests: • Gender, sexuality, class• What is theory for?• What does education

mean?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYboMmQS0tU Featured interviewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1U03DIXQfo8 Longer version

http://www.raewynconnell.net Connell’s web site

Cornel WestNotorious ‘public academic/intellectual’ – regularly features in popular culture (inc. The Matrix)

Work is diverse – race, class, gender, activism, politics, Marxism, religion…

Interview from Examined Life, on ‘what is philosophy?’

Whole documentary available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI-IhTFJaXc&list=PL619047EB29BB7508

Class Discussion

• What do you hear when you watch these two interviews?

• Who has the most content?

• Who is the most interesting?

• What is the purpose?

Interview Skills:Them, You and Everyone Else

What do they want?

• Expert interviewees hate having their ideas simplified, assumed, contradicted, dismissed… (can give the impression that you haven’t done your ‘homework’)

• They must know what they’re expected to talk about – fully debriefed, and possibly have the questions up front and approved by them

• They will still talk about their specialism, even if you don’t want them to

What do you want?

• Somebody who is engaged and passionate about the topic

• Response to your own schedule – sticking to topic

• Good rapport, interaction, fluidity (comes from you)

What do others want to hear?

Interviews online are usually a distraction – keep it short and to the point

People want to hear things that are topical, cutting-edge and original – keep attention

Often we find things that confirm who we are

Expert Media Interview

Activity• Read through the interview with the expert media interviewer

• In your groups, imagine you’ve been tasked with presenting this information for a magazine, for a feature titled ‘Tips from the Expert’:– Construct your own audience for the piece.– What parts of the interview extract are the most important? What

parts would you include?– How would you present this information? – How would you re-format it? What would the shape of the feature

look like? How would you lay it out?

Summary• We need expert interviews because they add to the range

of academic resources that we can use. They often represent the early development of more significant ideas – hot off the press!

• By now you should be able to:

– Critically reflect on what an expert interview might bring to your own personal and professional development

– Understand pre and post production of expert interview– Be prepared for this week’s individual task (revealed at the

end)

Give us a clue!

And this week’s reading!

Clue to this week’s task is…

"life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life" is a classic term used to

define a particular body of thought - which body of thought is this

?