Narrative and CommunityBuilding: 11.948
Wednesdays, 2:00-4:00
CRN classroom
Instructors:
Natasha Freidus tashafr@mit.edu and Ceasar
McDowell ceasar@mit.edu
Office hours to be arranged
http://stellar.mit.edu/S/course/11/fa03/11.948/index.html
Course Description:
Throughout history, story has been used to teach, to entertain, to express, to advocate. and to organize. It is through the sharing of stories that communities build their identities, pass on traditions, and construct meaning. This course will examine the role of narrative as a tool for community organizing and development. Current applications of storytelling in a variety of contexts will be discussed and analyzed. This course will also explore the potential of multimedia technology to support the use of narrative in traditionally marginalized communities. Students will collaborate with community organizations to develop a multimedia narrative. Please note, multimedia skills are not required for this course.
Goals:
Required Texts:
All texts will be also available on reserve at Rotch Library, other readings will be available on PDF format on Stellar site
Assignments:
- Written autobiography – Write 3-5 pages about yourself
o Due by email before midnight the night of Monday September 8 (or uploaded to class site).- Conduct an audio oral history with a family member, or with the person of your choice about family.
o Due September 24. Digital format encouraged, all formats acceptable, 5 minutes maximum.- Create a brief photo essay of a community you have lived in.
o Due October 8. Digital or hard copy acceptable. Hard copies must be smaller than 8x11. Maximum 8 pages/slides.
- Project Planning form due October 8
- Project Proposal due October 15
- Final project due December 10
- Final viewing to be scheduled
Due every other week beginning September 17 to course site.
Syllabus:
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Approach/Questions |
Readings and Examples from Practice |
Assignment |
Week 1September 3
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Narrative and Community Practice |
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Week 2September 10
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Why narrative?
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Required reading•
Dyson and Genishi
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Autobiography due |
Week 3 September 17
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Stories and the individual, |
Required Reading/preparation• Bruner. “Life as Narrative” Chapter 3 in The Need for Story • Eakin, Paul John. How our Lives Become Stories. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1999. Chapter Three View compact disc• Paull, Caleb. Self-Perceptions and Social Connections: Empowerment through Digital Storytelling in Adult Education Choose either Chapter 4 or 5 and view accompanying story.
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Journal Entry due |
Week 4September 24
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Stories to record history:
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Required reading • Slim and Thompson. Listening for a Change: Oral History and Community Development. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1995. Chapters 1 and 4 • Shostak, Marjorie. “What the Wind Won’t Take Away” in Perks and Thompson (eds.) The Oral History Reader London: Routledge, 1998. Ch 34. Recommended reading • Wigginton, Elliot. Refuse to Stand Silently By. New York: Doubleday, 1991. • Relying on Ourselves, the Spirit of Rural Community Development http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/121/Pearson.html Required viewing: Choose 1 of the 3 websites • http://www.soundportraits.org/in-print/books/the_forgotten_ones/ • What did you do during the War, grandma http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html
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Oral history due |
Week 5October 1
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Stories as Art Part 1: Traditional arts Jane Sapp, Guest speaker (tentative) |
Required Reading • Belenky, Mary. A Tradition that Has no Name. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Chapter 9, pp. 229-258. • Community Arts Network. Connecting Californians: Finding the Art of Community Change http://www.communityarts.net/concal Recommended Reading • Boal, Augusto. Theater of the Oppressed New York: Theater Communications Group, 1970. Chapter 4, “Poetics of the Oppressed”. Required Viewing Jane Sapp documentary. Screening to be held out of class |
Journal Entry due |
Week 6October 8 |
Stories and Art Part 2 : Technology Liz Canner, Guest Speaker (tentative) |
Required Reading • Lambert, Joe. Digital Storytelling Introduction and Chapters 1-3 • Freidus, Natasha and Hlubinka, Michelle. “Digital Stories for Reflective Practice in Communities of Learners” web.mit.edu/crcp/research.html Required Viewing • Symphony of a City www.symphonyofacity.org • Capture Wales http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/capturewales/
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Photo essay and project planning sheet due |
Week 7October 15 |
Stories and Social Movements: The Civil Rights Movement |
Required Reading • Davis, Joseph (ed.) Stories of Change: Narrative and Social Movements Chapter 2, pp. 31-52 “Plotting Protest” and chapter 9, pp.203-229, “Movement advocates as Battered Women’s Storytellers” • Eyes on the Prize Viewing in class |
Final Project Proposals Due |
Week 8October 22 |
Stories for advocacy and organizing
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Required Reading(Choose 2 of the following 4) • Pule, Lyn, et.al. Telling it Like it Was http://www.newvillage.net/Journal/Issue3/3pyle.html • Chapter 4, “Getting our Histories Straight” in Stories of Change • Valley Interfaith Case Study: http://www.creativenarrations.net/thesis/individual.html and Chapter 3, page 8-10. • Penchaszadeh, Analía. Tell me a story: How a community-based organization learns from its history through reflective storytelling Masters Thesis, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT, 1994. Chapter 2 pp 29-57. Required Viewing• Third World Majority http://www.cultureisaweapon.org/ • Broken Sky www.duedu/~mimcdowe/index_flash.html
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Journal Entries due |
Week 9October 29 |
Stories and Youth |
Required Reading: • Miller, Peggy and Mehler, Robert. “The Power of Personal Storytelling in Families and Kindergartens” pp. 38-52 in The Need for Story • Heath, Shirley Brice. “Stories as Ways of Acting Together” pp.206-220 in The Need for Story Required Viewing (Choose two of three)• Llano Grande Project http://www.pbs.or/pov/pov2002/borders/pdf/pov_borderrs_lesson_two.pdf • SoundPortraits http://www.soundportraits.org/on-air/ghetto_life_101/ • Alaskan Native Youth Cultural Community Building http://lone-eagles.com/bartsgrant.htm
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Week 10November 5 |
Stories to understand conflict
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Required Reading
and Viewing • Appreciative Inquiry and Community Development http://www.iisd.org/ai/ (read text and view stories) • Japanese and Arab American’s stories http://www.itvs.org/facetoface/intro.html • Arab-Israeli Stories http://www.cctvcambridge.org/stream/qt/chyme
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Journal Entries due |
Week 11November 12 |
Stories and Urban Planning |
Required Reading • Forrester, John. The Deliberative Practitioner MIT Press, Cambridge: 2001. Chapters One and Two. • Simmons, Michelle. “The Role of Narrative in the Process of Inclusion” in McDonald et.al (eds.) Building Diverse Communities, Applications of Communications Research Cresskill, NJ : Hampton Press, 2002. • Stories and Sustainability reading (on order) Required Viewing• A New Harlem Gentry in Search of its Latte http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/07/garden/07HARL.html • Camfield Estates Stories website to be announced.
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Storyboards Due |
Week 12November 19 |
Review and discussion session |
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Week 13November 26 |
No Class |
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Week 14December 3 |
Workshop and Reflection |
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Week 15December 10 Last Day of Class |
Final Presentations, Part One |
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Final Presentations Due |