Request time in the StoryCube

at the MATADOR BOOKSTORE

Monday, April 30 to Friday, May 11

...during Commencement Week...

Tuesday, May 22 to Thursday, May 24


Share your CSUN experience by recording and preserving an interview with someone you care about!

Remember and record your unique CSUN experience.



STORYCUBE box with conversataion bubbles. Interviewer says, 'What is your happiest CSUN Story?'. Interviewee responds, 'I have a lot of them, but my favorite is...'.

 

Sample Conversation Starters

StoryCorps, the program that inspired StoryCube, offers additional questions to get you started.

CSUN StoryCube

CSUN StoryCube is based on the highly successful and widely implemented StoryCorps program, which has provided  thousands of people across the nation with a way to record their personal stories.

We believe collecting and preserving stories from students, faculty, staff and community members is essential to understanding the diverse fabric of life on- and off-campus. By sharing our stories with others, we celebrate both our common bonds and our unique differences that together, shape the whole of human experience.

CSUN StoryCube is committed to providing a safe, engaging space for all members of the Cal State Northridge community to tell their stories and listen to those of others. Once stories are recorded, they will be uploaded and stored on CSUN ScholarWorks, an open-access institutional repository for capturing, organizing, preserving and disseminating the intellectual output of faculty, staff and students. Short segments of some stories will appear as podcasts and videos at the StoryCube website.

How it Works

During Founders Day in Fall 2011, StoryCube will be mobilized at the Green Room in the Northridge Center. You and a friend will have the opportunity to record stories in pairs (storyteller/interviewer) or on your own with the assistance of a student attendant. StoryCube interviews allow for 30 minutes of uninterrupted time for meaningful conversation with a friend or loved one.

There are six basic steps:

  1. Schedule time in the StoryCube.
  2. Prepare for the interview.  You will find suggestions on how to prepare and some suggested questions that your interviewer may use to start your storytelling.
  3. Orientation and sign in (5 minutes): When you arrive for your scheduled time in the StoryCube, a student attendant will walk the storyteller and interview partner through the paperwork, which asks for basic contact information, such as name and campus affiliation.  You will be asked to sign a release form allowing CSUN StoryCube to archive the recorded story on CSUN Scholarworks, post an excerpt from the interview online either as a podcast, typed transcription or video, allow published excerpts to be accompanied with the participants’ photo and allow CSUN StoryCube to use story segments in campus publications or materials.
  4. Check audio and video (5 minutes): Student attendant will position storyteller and interviewer for audio and/or video recording and will conduct an equipment check.
  5. Start interview (30 minutes): Either the interview partner or student attendant will start the interview using prepared questions. The student attendant will take notes and will monitor the time and recording equipment.
  6. Receive your takeaway CD and have your picture taken (10 minutes).  When the interview is over, the student attendant will burn a copy of the interview on CD for the contributor and will photograph the contributor and interview partner.