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Story

We hold that story, vision and values are more powerful forces for change than data, information and strategic plans. Through stories, individuals and communities proclaim their values, build identities, pass on traditions, and construct meaning. Hearing and retelling the stories from our communities can help us align our work more closely with community members' hopes and concerns. Likewise, story can help us understand the ways in which history and cultural heritage inform -- and can inform -- our work.

Resource

The Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley is an arts organization rooted in the art of personal storytelling. They assist people in using the tools of digital media to craft, record, share, and value the stories of individuals and communities, in ways that improve all our lives.

Cirlce of Stories, a PBS site, uses documentary film, photography, artwork and music to honor and explore Native American storytelling. Whole Communities faculty member Melissa Nelson co-produced and consulted on the site with her organization, the Cultural Conservancy.

Readings

An excellent primer for conservationists on the subject of gathering and telling stories is The Story Handbook, available on our website.

Marshall Ganz of the Kennedy School at Harvard is an interesting thinker and writer on story, and has created something called the Public Story Project. This article gives more of his philosophy on story, and a worksheet leads you through the workshop process he has developed.

The following texts are recommended by Caesar McDowell in his course on Narrative and Community Building taught at MIT:

Davis, Joseph. 2002. Stories of Change: Narrative and Social Movements. State University of New York, Albany.

Dyson, Anne Haas, and Genishi, Celia, Eds. 1994. The Need for Story. National Council of Teachers of English. Available online as a PDF.

Lambert, Joe. 2002. Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community. Digital Diner Press, Berkeley. (Available through the Center for Digital Storytelling.)