John and Leslie Boloian and Alex Wu

Andover Stories of American Identity: John and Leslie share their compelling family story relating to the trauma of the Armenian Genocide, immigrating to Andover as farmers, and creating a legacy through their land and culture.

Eleanor and Leah

Eleanor (19) talks with her good friend Leah (29)about idol culture.

Jon Trachtenberg and Alex Wu

Andover Stories of American Identity: A thoughtful conversation with Jon Trachenberg about his childhood in Long Island, New York, to his life as a father in Andover, Massachusetts.

Ed Pedi and Alex Wu

Creating Community Through Sharing Stories: Award-winning professional photographer Ed Pedi shares his life story, from growing up in Chelsea with his 7 siblings to his passion for photography, traveling the globe by motorcycle, and the lessons that he learned.

Upbringings in China, Japanese Culture, and 9/11: Stories from My Dad, Zijiang Yang

My dad and I discuss his childhood experiences of family life and academics in China, and how they differed from mine in America. We reflect on his career pursuits as a police officer, tour guide, and sushi chef due to...

Art and Culture in San Antonio: Interview with Mari Kypuros

Mari Kypuros is a Mexican-Born, American-Living artist and creative from San Antinio, and this is her story.

Observing Gender

The goal for this project is to broaden our perspectives on topics like language, gender, and politics by learning from other people’s life stories. We found that the connecting thread through all of our personal stories that dealt with these...

Immigrant Stories from my Mom, and Aunt

High School Junior Justin Tang (17) has a chat with his Mom and Aunt about the differences of living in China in the 90s, and the US, as well as the Chinese society and government.

“Being Jewish, I have sort of an outsider’s perspective”

In this interview, conducted on December 15th, 2023, in Santa Monica, California, Andrew Bernknopf (60) talks with his son, Leo Bernknopf (15) about how his Jewish religion and faith in God has shaped his perspective of the world. He shares...

Gricelda talks about her life in Richmond, raising a daughter while balancing two cultures, and her hopes for Richmond

This interviewed was done with the assistance of a translator. Gricelda talks about things she misses from Mexico (food!) and what types of culture events would be fun to incorporate into life in Richmond. She also talks about how she...

Meg Heubeck and Yijing Shen

[Recorded Thursday, November 11, 2021] Meg (54) and Yijing (21) have a One Small Step conversation in Charlottesville, Virginia. They discuss cross-cultural perspectives on American democracy, parent-child relationships, and their shared interest in traveling to other countries.

Shailyn Schaefer and her boyfriend Matthew Buizon talk about his life growing up as an Asian-American in the United States.

In this interview, conducted virtually in November 2021, Shailyn Schaefer (17) interviews her boyfriend Matthew Buizon (19) about his childhood growing up as an Asian-American being Filipino and American. Matthew shares his thoughts on the Filipino community and explains his...

Interviewing Ailly Chua

My friend Ailly tells me about her experience moving back and forth from Japan to the United States.

Aiden Briesacher and Kelly Barnes

Aiden Briesacher: 2020-11-29 21:07:51 Aiden Briesacher (17) speaks with her Aunt, Kelly Barnes (50), about her life. Travel experiences in India, Japan, London, China, Australia and more as well as childhood memories, life in different countries, and a surprise reveal...

Language and Culture Story

Talked about my mom's culture and language background and how it was like for her to come to a different country to live.

Rose Guterbock and Regina A.

[Recorded: Monday, March 14, 2022] Rose Guterbock (36) and Regina A. (65) have a One Small Step conversation. Rose spent her formative years in Japan as an international student and now runs a non-profit in Charlottesville. Regina lives in Vienna...

The Sarkisians and Alex Wu

Creating Community Through Sharing Stories: An interview with multiple generations of the Sarkisian family, where they share how their ancestors fled the Armenian Genocide, their lifestyle growing up on the family-owned farm, establishing a legacy in Andover, and how their...

Ashley Jardin and JP Ramirez

Ashley & JP have a conversation about the Aloha spirit, people of Hawaii, and what it means to "talk story" sharing ourselves, the importance of honoring a people's culture with respect, living our values, being in good company with each...

Liya's Burdensome Prep School Experience

Liya Liang speaks with Nina Kleinberg about her experiences attending a preparatory boarding school and leaving all she knew behind. The two discuss the effects that it had on her life reflecting on the aspects of race, class, and socioeconomic...

In Your Own Words with Pele Voncujovi

Originally a celebration of Black History Month, February 2018, Middlebury College's Davis Family Library has initiated a series of oral interviews, "In Your Own Words." In them, Literatures & Cultures Librarian Katrina Spencer engages members of the community who trace...

Lori Morimoto and Sue Marguerite Dootson

Lori Morimoto and Sue Marguerite Dootson have a One Small Step conversation. Lori is a professor at the University of Virginia, and Sue is a children's book author. They talk about their shared experience of spending much of their life...