Contemporary Uses of Narrative Online Course

Contemporary Uses of Narrative
Internet based course at master level, 7,5 ECTS
Fall semester 2011: 1 September through 3 November
Course language: English
Course code HG-NE350
Course fee for students outside EU/ESS: 10 000 SEK

In our contemporary world, narrative seems to have become something of a key symbol for interpreting phenomena from various fields of society.

Producing companies no longer sell products; after having for some time merchandized brands, today they trade stories about their brands. Political parties nowadays feed their potential electors with narratives instead of with ideologies. Business leaders use various form of storytelling as techniques of leadership. Mass media have obviously left their traditional role of neutral reporting in favor of describing reality in terms of dramatic and emotionally engaging stories.

The process of meaning creation involves severe reductionist elements. Intricate social, political or cultural situations are reduced to simple dichotomies, complex personalities are rendered in the form of stereotyped role characters, and slow, composite, undramatic processes are simply disregarded.

To be able to understand the mechanisms of this development, one has to be familiar with the basic structural elements of narrative making it an efficient cultural form for creating meaning in individual and collective experiences.

Drawing its examples from the fields of politics, business management, marketing, and tourism, the course invites the student to reflect over the possible cultural, social and political consequences of the changing uses of narrative in contemporary society.

More information: Professor Ulf Palmenfelt .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Welcome to submit your application at http://www.hgo.se/utbud/hgo/HET802

Call for Papers: Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics: A Journal of Qualitative Research

Call for Papers (New Journal): Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics: A Journal of Qualitative Research

A new journal published by JHU Press has put out its initial Call for Papers.  The journal is entitled Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics: A Journal of Qualitative Research.  All three of these descriptors are central to the medical humanities, so this looks to be an exciting and promising journal.  Here are some details on the approach and scope of the journal:

Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics (NIB) provides a forum for exploring current issues in bioethics through the publication and analysis of personal stories, qualitative and mixed-methods research articles, and case studies. Articles may address the experiences of patients and research participants, as well as health care workers and researchers. NIB is dedicated to fostering a deeper understanding of bioethical issues by engaging rich descriptions of complex human experiences. While NIB upholds appropriate standards for narrative inquiry and qualitative research, it seeks to publish articles that will appeal to a broad readership of health care providers and researchers, bioethicists, sociologists, policy makers, and others.

Thick content, indeed!

And here are the guidelines for submission.  NIB has planned three symposia to kick things off for Volume 1:

Issue 1, July 2011: Living with Conflicts of Interest in Medicine (Symposium Editor, James DuBois)

Preference given to story proposals received by October 15.

Issue 2, September 2011: Nursing Aides in Long-Term Care Facilities (Symposium Editor, Amy Haddad)

Preference given to story proposals received by October 15.

Issue 3, December 2011: Experiences of Hospitalized Psychiatric Patients (Symposium Editor, Charles Lidz)

Preference given to story proposals received by October 15.

Sounds terrific, so do consider submitting your work.

Call for Participation: Workshop on Users and Evaluation of Interactive Storytelling

Workshop on Users and Evaluation of Interactive Storytelling
October 31st, 2010, Edinburgh UK

Half-day Workshop (9:30am - 12:30pm)
at ICIDS 2010
3rd International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling

http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/icids2010/EvaluationWorkshop

Organizers: Nelson Zagalo, Sandy Louchart, Maria Soto

Call for Participation

For long, Interactive Storytelling (IS) has been a constant focus of interest of scholars from various areas. However, in spite of the attention that specific domains of IS have received (e.g. development of tools, applications and systems), there is little prior work on connecting those notions with users experiences. The main purpose of this workshop is to move forward on the study of users‚ experience of interactive stories by working on the identification of the variables, dynamics and methods that could contribute to explain it. It proposes participants to jointly navigate through different practices, theories, approaches, and concepts that need to be taken into account for properly shaping the complex experience of perceiving those artifacts and applications. The ultimate goal of the workshop is advancing in the definition of a model that allows measuring user engagement during consumption of interactive narratives.

The workshop will investigate a wide range of disciplines so as to identify specific and appropriate techniques, procedures and methods for properly measuring the experience and its effects on receivers. As workshop organizers, we conducted preliminary theoretical work and outlined three factors towards a model of users‚ narrative: narrative (a), formal (b), and decisions (c). These aspects will form the basis for discussions at the workshop.

The final goal is then to provide an opportunity for participants to exchange ideas and research results on the the evaluation of Games and Interactive Storytelling’s consumption.

Not being mandatory for your participation we solicit contributions that reflect the state-of-art work in the field.

Areas of interest include but not limited to:

1) Narrativity
2) Aesthetic
3) Problem solving
4) Methodology
5) Emotion studies
6) Reception
7) Persuasion

Please submit your interest of participation or one-page abstract of your work to Nelson Zagalo (nzagalo at ics.uminho.pt).

More information about the workshop can be found at
http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/icids2010/EvaluationWorkshop

Submission Deadline of Participation Interest: 10/15/10
Submission Deadline of Abstract: 10/20/10

The workshop will be limited to twenty participants so as to preserve
active participation.

Organisers
Nelson Zagalo, University of Minho, Portugal
Sandy Louchart, Heriot-Watt University, UK
Maria Soto, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain

Emails
nzagalo(at)icd(dot)uminho(dot)pt
s.louchart(at)hw(dot)ac(dot)uk
mariateresa(dot)soto(at)uab(dot)es

More Information.

Call for Papers: Teaching Narrative

TEACHING NARRATIVE AND TEACHING THROUGH NARRATIVE

International Conference organized by the Nordic Network of Narrative Studies, University of Tampere, May 26–28, 2011

Call for Papers

The conference is organized to explore the broad interface of narrative theory, literary pedagogy, and the uses of narrative as a tool for teaching and distributing knowledge in diverse disciplinary fields. A special feature of the conference will be a series of workshops devoted to close analysis of particular narrative texts – fictional as well as non-fictional – which are studied together by the participants from varying theoretical angles. We invite papers on all text types carrying narrative relevance and amenable to pedagogical uses: from opera to obituary; television to testimony; Bildungsroman alongside with biblical narrative to blog. Our plenary speakers will include specialists on literary pedagogy (Professor Leona Toker, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and on the pedagogical uses of narrative in the fields of social sciences, medicine, and humanities (Professor Rita Charon, Columbia University, Professor Jens Brockmeier, University of Manitoba and the Free University of Berlin).

Deadline for abstracts: December 31, 2010. 200–300-word abstracts should be sent to teaching.narrative[at]uta.fi. Please write “Teaching Narrative / Abstract [Your name]” in the subjectline. Participants will be contacted by January 31, 2011.

More Information:

Call for Papers: Storytelling Without Limits and the Pleasures of Language Learning and Practice

Storytelling Without Limits and the Pleasures of Language Learning and Practice: Sharing News and Tales in the Story Bazaar

Date: 11th February, 2011 - 12th February, 2011
Type: Conference
Location: London School of Economics
Summary

A Multi-Lingual and Multi-Cultural Conference and Storytelling Event for Schools, Colleges and Universities, and for Storytellers of All Ages

Storytelling is a practice shared by all human cultures which has endured from ancient times to our contemporary societies. The sharing of tales, tall and short, humorous and didactic, for pleasure and for necessity was, and continues to be, essential for the survival and development of all our cultures.

The oral traditions of storytelling respect and value traditional cultures, encourage cross-generational and cross-cultural sharing, and foster the development of the precious, intangible heritage that is storytelling. It privileges speech and language, and the sharing, preserving and revitalisation of oral heritages.

Beyond the sharing of the oral storytelling and written folktale traditions across cultures, ‘storytelling’ in varying forms is also a newly emerging tool that has been affecting fields as varied as the study of management, strategy and organisation studies, military science, medicine, psychology and psychiatry. For many practitioners in these fields, storytelling is beginning to be a key competency and knowing how to deliver a story effectively combined with knowing the right story to tell is actively reshaping these, and other, disciplines.

Storytelling has also been used in education as an exercise to improve language skills as it offers students a chance to run a self-motivated project in which they have the opportunity to talk about themselves and put across a personal message.

Necessarily shape-shifting and constantly open to new influences, the story in all its forms is a place where languages and cultures meet. This event is both a celebration of that ‘place’ and an attempt to bring together multiple forms of storytelling that may not have yet met.

A Call for Papers follows on the next page, but please also note that two forms of Storytelling will be showcased at this event:

Showcase 1 The Story Bazaar: A Multi-Lingual Storytelling Performance Project

The Story Bazaar is an exciting creative event that conjures up the atmosphere of the bazaar – traditionally the place where traders and travellers met to exchange goods, news and tales. It was a melting-pot where different cultures and languages met, mixed and influenced each other. Stories and storytellers were, and still are, an important part of the bazaar. The oral tradition was nourished by the cross-fertilization of languages, creating new versions of stories, which were carried away by traders. As the African ending to a story goes: ‘Carry some away and bring some back’. Story Bazaar aims to inspire and encourage a creative approach to learning languages, and to re-create the dynamic atmosphere of cultures and languages to share tales.

Teachers and students in a selection of London schools are currently researching and collecting traditional folk stories in their key languages and exploring the rich cultural heritage behind those languages with a focus on engaging the students in speaking and communicating, and developing confidence in expressing themselves in those languages. The Story Bazaar is a cross-curricular activity, linking language learning with written and oral culture, history, social and cultural studies, religion, drama, and art and design. Teachers and students will gather together to perform, share their stories and celebrate the cultural heritage of their key languages.

Project led by Storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton

Showcase 2 Digital Storytelling: Why Digital Storytelling is Good for Your Students

Two emergent trends – storytelling in various fields and the use of social computing tools – can be combined to give renewed options to foreign language studies and help develop both students’ linguistic and cross-cultural skills. Students have the opportunity to develop their fluency by using their own voice while working on a personal story. DST gives them a creative space while focusing also on current issues. Key narrative skills are developed through storyboard writing and the analysis of visual material while also focusing on complex language issues. Throughout the conference, there will be presentations to outline the function of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool through which students reflect on their experience, present it to others and improve their language skills. Examples of DST developed by students will be shown.
Project led by the LSE Language Centre team (Matteo Fumagalli; Helen Mayer; Hervé Didiot-Cook)

While the principal focus of the event is on links between storytelling, language learning and teaching, we welcome offers of papers focusing on the Practices of Storytelling in all their forms. These may include, but are not limited to:

• World oral traditions
• Performance storytelling
• Digital storytelling (storytelling and the use of social computing tools)
• Tech-life stories
• The Internet’s ‘new’ storytellers
• Interfaces between oral and written storytelling
• Storytelling and fiction
• Storytelling in contemporary societies
• Appropriations and transformations
• Sources and influences
• Geographical, political, historical and socio-cultural contexts
• Chronologies and methodologies
• Readers and Listeners
• Storytellers and Cultural Memory
• Using storytelling in the languages classroom
• Storytelling strategies in the judicial system, PR, marketing, management, politics, the military, the media…

Abstracts of between 250 to 400 words (max] should be sent to:

Helena Scott, Research Support, Department of Modern and Applied Languages, University of Westminster
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
By: 30th November 2010

Conference Organised by:

Routes into Languages London (Capital L) with
• LSE Language Centre
• Department of Modern and Applied Languages, University of Westminster
• Storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton

Conference Organising Committee:

Renata Alburquerque, Nick Byrne, Sally Pomme Clayton, Hervé Didiot-Cook, Matteo Fumagalli, Debra Kelly, Helen Mayer.
For further information, please contact:
Helena Scott
Research Support
Department of Modern and Applied Languages
University of Westminster
e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

StoryTalk Categories

• Applied Narrative
• Art, Culture, Design
• Conferences & Festivals
• Opportunities
• Questions

Search this Site

View the Archive