COVID-19 Sample Oral History Questions

  • What is your affiliation with the university?  If you are a student, please tell us your year and major(s).
  • How was the pandemic discussed and/or handled in classes and extracurriculars before the campus closure?
  • How did you learn of the University's decisions to close campus and cancel activities?
  • What was your experience of actually leaving campus? What kind of help did you have? What were your thoughts and emotions as you were leaving?
  • Where are you living now?
  • What is daily life like for you? How is it affected by current restrictions? What adjustments have you had to make to your usual routines?
  • How has technology played a role in your life during the pandemic – either in classes, as a way to get and share information, or for entertainment?
  • How are your classes going? What kinds of messages have you received from professors? How are other students handling the changes? How are you handling it? How have your academic routines changed?
  • Are you involved in student organizations, sports, or clubs? How has the pandemic affected them?
  • Do/did you have a job on or off campus? What kind of work did you do, and how has that been affected by the pandemic, lockdowns, and quarantine?
  • How are your friends, family, partner, or other important people in your life doing?
  • Are you doing any community work or volunteering as a result of the pandemic – shopping for neighbors, donating blood, other community work?
  • What are your impressions of the media coverage of the pandemic, both currently and before it arrived in the United States?
  • What seemed normal a few weeks ago that seems strange to you now? What are you doing now that will likely seem strange to you in a month or two?
  • How have your plans changed? What were you planning to do this spring and summer that is now uncertain?
  • Is there anything else you would like people to know?