Interview Questions for Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project
Hello and Welcome. My name is [interviewer’s name], and I’ll be conducting the interview
today on behalf of the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project.
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this voluntary interview.
The purpose of this interview is for the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project team to learn about the student
perspective on the cross-cultural exchanges you experienced. In addition, your contributions today
will help shape the direction of this important initiative to the benefit of many future students at
Stanford. Your feedback is crucial in helping the team to continue to improve upon the foundation of
tech-enhanced intercultural communication that they have been building for the last few years.
As a formality, I would like to you know that this interview is covered by the Consent Form that has
been approved by the University Panel on Human Subjects in Non-Medical Research. All responses
to this interview are voluntary and you can choose not to answer certain questions. Your remarks in
this interview will not have any effect on your status in any Stanford University courses or your work
as a student at Stanford. Please sign this secondary consent form to acknowledge that we have your
permission to proceed and to videotape this session for purposes of academic research.
Have students sign secondary consent form.
1. Welcome, ____________[Full name for the video]. I understand from my notes that you participated
in the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project during __________________ (term) with _________________
(instructor) and that you had a chance to



Video conference with __________________
Work on the collaborative blog
OTHER: ________________________
Could you tell me a little about those experiences?
2. How might your experiences participating in the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project have benefited you
as a student?
3.
What was the most useful activity for you as a learner in PWR and why?
4.
How might have the rhetorical analysis activities you participated in helped you improve your
understanding of writing and rhetoric in particular?
Follow-up: Could you identify a specific example?
Optional Cues if student does not have an answer: Consider, for instance,
 developed new research ideas from sharing topics through video conferences
 broadened your view globally through meeting other students
 changed your topic after a conversation or blog post
 conducted an interview with one of your peers
 developed your abilities as a presenter through the video conferences.
CCR Interviews, May 2008
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5. How might participation in CCR have changed the way you approach cross-cultural situations?
Could you provide a specific example?
Optional Cues to prompt the student:
 helped you improve your communication or collaboration skills by working with students
from diverse cultural backgrounds
 gained sensitivity to and consideration for others
 applied what learned in CCR to another academic, professional, personal situation
6. How did participation in CCR improve your ability to communicate through technology? What do
you think you learned in terms of technology-mediated communication that is valuable to you now
as a Stanford student?
Transition: Thank you. For the final questions, I’d like you to think of the possible future of
the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project.
7. CCR now works in conjunction with institutions across four different countries (Sweden, Australia,
Egypt, and Singapore) and will be expanding in 2008-2009 to collaborate with Mexico, Korea, and
possible China as well. Can you suggest other areas that should we consider for cross-cultural
exchanges? Or do you think we should focus in on one particular geographic region and why?
8.
As an important campus initiative, CCR is poised to grow in the next few years as Stanford focuses
increasingly on international education. How do you think the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project
should evolve from here in order to provide the greatest benefit to Stanford students?
Optional Cues to Prompt Student if necessary: For instance:
 Workshops through Bing Overseas Studies to prepare students for study abroad.
 Upper division courses in learning intercultural communication for use in majors
 Offer students project team work with other students from around the world.
 Upper division course in CCR
 Just continue to offer CCR connections within PWR 1 or PWR 2 courses.
9. What if we had a physical center on campus that was dedicated to Cross-Cultural Exchange?
10. Do you have any final ideas, suggestions, or feedback to share with us?
CLOSING: Thank you so much for your time and generous answers in this interview. We hope you
keep in touch with us as we would like to follow selected individuals over the long term to see how
participation in the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project might have benefited students as learners and
global citizens. Have a great day!