LOVE Project: An oral history about love

I love you, and I love you too’s have been a call-and-response ritual for my husband and me over the years, and there have honestly been many moments when I’ve responded without really thinking deeply about those words. One evening in the summer of 2018, he told me he loved me, but this time I didn’t reply as usual.

I paused, allowed those familiar words to sink in, and asked him how he learned to love. This question caught him off guard and led to a radical conversation about how our understanding of love came to be.

So I decided to make a space for us to continue this deep conversation about love and formally interview him about it.

Thus began the LOVE project, an opportunity to give voice to our truest understandings and interpretations of love.

Let’s talk about LOVE

FAQs

How long are the interviews?

Most interviews are up to 1 hour long. It can be shorter or longer - depending on the narrator.

Does one have to be in love to participate?

Not at all: It’s an open discussion about LOVE - in all forms and in all ways --  however one wants to interpret it.

It can be about people, places, ideas, work, faith, hobbies, interests, relationships, etc. - anything that comes up for you.

What do narrators get out of it?

Space and time to freely think about LOVE

Digital copy of the interview

What do narrators need to participate?

A quiet space to record the interview;

Up to an hour long of uninterrupted time dedicated to the interview;

We’ll also take a photo portrait of the narrator on the day of the interview.  This portrait, however, does not have to be of the narrator directly but can be of something connected to the narrator.

Do narrators need to prepare in advance?

No need to prepare beforehand; one of the goals of this project is to provide a space for narrators to freely think about LOVE in an unscripted way.

Part of the charm of oral history is that it is unrehearsed and moments of silence to think are encouraged during the interview.

What will happen to the interview afterwards?

The interviews will be part of an oral history archive that KayeLBA Projects is building and excerpts of the interview will be highlighted online - where the general public will be able to listen to excerpts of the interviews.  Narrators have the opportunity to select a 2 to 5 minute excerpt of the interview to be featured on this website and/or on social media.

How long will it take for me to receive a copy of my interview?

You should receive a copy of the interview within 3 weeks of the interview.

Who are the narrators?

That’s you! Interviewees are called narrators.

For this project, Oral History …

• is viewed as a collaboration and social experience between the narrator and interviewer

• can address the past, present, and the future

• is more interested in meaning than in facts

If you are interested in participating in the LOVE Project or have any questions, please fill out the following: