Carry Forth the Stories: on the Power Story and Storytelling

ISEM 301 Seminar - Honors Section

(Seminar Sessions: Oct 16 thru Dec 6, 2018  - 18 sessions: 15 instructional contact hours, 1 consulting hour, 5 presentation hours; Fall Recess: Nov 19 - 23: Final Exam: Dec 11)

 

Instructor: Rodney Frey, Professor Emeritus of Ethnography and Distinguished Humanities Professor

Office: Phinney Hall 116   Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 9:30 - 11:00   Cell Phone/Text: 208-596-6476   Office Phone: 208-885-6268    Email: rfrey@uidaho.edu   Web Page: http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/

 

Synopsis:  Students will explore the human condition as experienced as “story,” and of the power of “storytelling” to bring meaning to and animate one’s life.  Students will learn about the range and dynamics of story and storytelling, the methods for analyzing (via social science) and interpreting (via humanities) the meaning of stories, and be introduced to the various purposes of stories.  Illustrative story examples will be incorporated throughout the seminar, emanating from such traditions as Indigenous and Christian, Buddhist and scientific.  As a learning activity, students will interview a family member (using semi-structured interviewing techniques) and identify a prominent family story.  In turn, the family story will be recorded in an appropriate format, and then re-told, using storytelling techniques, in front of a live audience of fellow students.

 

Seminar Content:  There is nothing that gives me greater pleasure than to see my students bring “life” to a story – of witnessing each student use creative storytelling techniques to clothe the “bones” of a story with “flesh and muscle,” doing so with others, with family or community members, as they “swirl” within that story.  In this seminar, students will explore the human condition as experienced through stories, learning about the nature, range and dynamics of story and storytelling, and about the oral and written techniques of effective storytelling.  Students will select a defining story emanating from within his or her own family’s tradition, and will apply techniques of interviewing, and search for the defining “bones” of that story.  In the culminating “retreat,” using effective storytelling techniques, the student’s story will be conveyed both retold aloud in front of those assembled, as well as presented in an appropriate written format.  Students will be assessed on their ability to retain the stable “bones” within the story, while through varied creative means, add supple “flesh and muscle.”  Students will gain a heightened sense of the power of stories, a greater capacity for listening, empathy and creativity, and a better appreciation for the importance of keeping the great stories alive – that “we are the stories we tell.”                                                 

In this seminar, students will learn that storytelling goes to the very core of who and what we are as human beings.  Embedded within the stories are the “bones,” the teachings that provide instruction, moral guidance and identity, the heart that provides laughter and a tear, the “bones” of our collective imagination and wisdom, of what it means to be human.  Infused in the re-telling of our stories is the creative spark, interwoven with a healthy dose of empathy, that brings those cherished stories alive.  Story and storytelling is analogous to a “living being,” with its stable, anchoring “bones,” animated by its supple, adaptable “muscle and flesh.”  It’s the responsibly of the storyteller, be it through the written or spoken word, to gather the “bones” of our teachings, our hearts and our wisdom, and interweave them through the re-telling, using his or her creative techniques of storytelling and empathetic adaptability, to add “muscle and flesh,” and breathe life into the story.  If the storytelling is to be successful, the raconteur must have empathy for both the characters of the story, as well as his or her audience.  In turn, it is the responsibility of the story listener to be actively attentive, to listen deeply, and participate in and explore the story’s landscape, discovering what might await.  When in alignment, story participants “swirl” with the characters of that story.  As students in past courses have danced, sung, and conversed through the storytelling with such perennial teachers as Pythagoras or Shakespeare, the Buddha, Jesus or Thomas Jefferson, Athena or Odysseus, Changing Woman, Coyote or Salmon, Frodo Baggins or Luke Skywalker, in our seminar I seek to have students do the same in the story of a dear grandmother or a ruckus uncle.  I seek in this seminar that students will broaden their appreciation of how our diverse and shared humanity is infused with great stories, that upon their re-telling can help better the human condition.   As the Apsáalooke (Crow Indian) elder Tom Yellowtail once said to me, “if all these great stories were told, great stories will come!”

  

Agenda, Schedule and Assignments:   

1. Nature of story.  Dates: October 16, 18, 23, 25, 30, November 1.  Reading Assignments: Carry Forth the Stories of Others: Oral History Interviewing and Re-telling" (PDF 2018) pp. 1-2; Carry Forth the Stories pp. ix-82, 136-150, 156-253

Range and types of narratives: from sacred texts to family histories; from baaéechichiwaau (stories of others) to basbaaaliíchiwé (one’s own story); from scientific texts to “just-so-stories”; from mega-stories to an ad hoc situational joke; from oral traditions to written texts   

Component parts of a told story: as “a living being” with “bones” and “flesh.”   Bones: the “What” - teachings, perennial wisdom.  Flesh: the “How” – techniques, etc. Each in alignment with the other

Dynamics of storytelling: bringing “flesh” to the “bones” and a story to life: Responsibilities of storyteller and of story listener: Techniques, Orality vs. Literacy, Power of the Spoken Word, Role of Empathy and attentive listening,  Nature of empathy, Swirling with the Coyote – the hierophany

Nature of a told story: Head and Heart Mega-Stories, a transitory intersection of those participating, an unfolding event, always in the making.  Akin to the experience of a “rainbow”

Purposes of storytelling: To entertain, To educate and instill pragmatic skills as well as meaning and identity, To adapt as a society, To heal as an individual, To perpetuate what is most real

 2.      Rendering story meaningful: listening, analysis and interpretation.  Dates: November 6, 8, 13, 15.  Reading Assignment: "Carry Forth the Stories of Others: Oral History Interviewing and Re-telling" (PDF 2018) pp. 2-13; Informed Consent Form (docx. file, to be modified); Carry Forth the Stories pp. 83-135, 151-155

On listening: semi-structured interviewing and participant observation; coding and making sense of it all, and re-telling the stories of others, both through the written word (literacy) and spoken storytelling (orality).

On the social sciences – analytical, and on the humanities - interpretative methodological approaches (the differing yet complementary values and methods of each)

Reflective Write: What defines each?  What does each distinctly provide? (done in class)

On the ethics of engaging others: protocols and appropriation, informed consent, collaborations and “give backs”

Reflective Write: Reflect on how your future profession "gives back" to society. (done in class)

3.  Important Dates: 

Story Proposal Due November 13;

Fall Recess: Interview and Gather Stories November 17-25;

One-on-ones with instructor November 27;

Student Re-Telling (15 min. each):

Nov. 29 (4 slots): Elizabeth, Roan, Amber, Tony

Dec. 4 (4 slots): Alyssa, Nicole, Lydia, Seth

Dec. 6 (4 slots): Sierra, Eric, Michaela, Gunner

Dec. 11 (8:00-10:00 - 6 slots): Breanna,  Brett, Aaron, Teresa

Written Story Due: December 11 by 4:00 pm

 

Learning Activities:

1.      Having read the assignments, and bringing in the students’ own experiences, participate in discussions and reflections on various seminar topics.

2.      With skills in semi-structured interviewing, identify and collect a story (and its key “bones”) that is prominent to your family’s identity, a story that may have reflected an experience in the family’s history, perhaps to a rite of passage experience of a family member, or a story external to the family, upon which the family has modeled its orientation, perhaps a parable from the Gospels or the Bhagavad Gita.  Then in the act of re-membering the story, orally re-tell it, using your own techniques of storytelling to bring the story alive for the listener participants.  And finally put the story to print, in a manner and style of writing that helps retain the story’s meaning (aligning the “what” and the “how”), inclusive of art, photos, charts.  The written story text should be a minimum of twelve (12) double-spaced pages, inclusive of a reflection on the story’s context and background, significance and meaning, and its implications.  

 

Learning Outcomes – Specific to the Seminar Specific and Inclusive of the University and General Education:

 1. LEARN and INTEGRATE   –   Through independent learning and collaborative study, attain, use, and develop knowledge in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, with disciplinary specialization and the ability to integrate information across disciplines.

Distinguish Differing Disciplinary Approaches, and Applying a Multidisciplinary Interpretative Method ("Eye Juggling").  You will gain an academic methodology based upon the disciplines of humanities and social sciences for interpreting, appreciating, and understanding differing ways of viewing and knowing the stories of the world, and of expressing divergent cultural, religious, and aesthetic values.  As an interpretative method you will gain an ability to develop your skills in reflexivity and reflectivity, as well as the skills to reflect upon, think critically and creatively, and integrate information across diverse disciplines and varied points of view. 

2. THINK and CREATE    Use multiple thinking strategies to examine real-world issues, explore creative avenues of expression, solve problems, and make consequential decisions.

Understanding and an Appreciation of Human Diversity as well as our Shared Humanity. You will gain a heightened understanding of and appreciation for the many of the great human communities of the world, along with their quintessential teachings and truths, as well as their cultural, aesthetic (art and architecture), literary, religious and philosophical expressions.  Each community is to be appreciated for its special uniqueness and individuality, yet there will be thread of shared humanity, of what is universal in our diverse experiences.  We will attempt to view the world from the perspectives of those we study.

3. COMMUNICATE   –   Acquire, articulate, create and convey intended meaning using verbal and non-verbal methods of communication that demonstrate respect and understanding in a complex society.

Improve Oral and Written Communication Skills.  You will enhance your skills in computer use, in note-taking abilities, actively listening and reading, develop a working knowledge of university library resources, and develop successful time management.  You will enhance your skills in conveying ideas coherently and effectively in written and oral forms, including storytelling, develop interpersonal skills including participating in class discussions, posing thoughtful questions, listening and responding to others, and accomplish tasks through group collaborative work.  You will also enhance your ability to effectively gather data from a variety of sources, e.g., texts, public documents, interviews, panels, surveys observation, internet sites, to support your oral and written arguments and ideas. 

4. CLARIFY PURSPOSE and PERSPECTIVE   –   Explore one’s life purpose and meaning through transformational experiences that foster an understanding of self, relationships, and diverse global perspectives.

Understanding and an Appreciation of Your Own Spiritual/Philosophical/Cultural Background in Relationship to Global Community. By juxtaposing that which is culturally and religiously distinct alongside that which is immediate though often veiled, the contours of the landscape of one’s own cultural world view and values becomes clearer. You will better be able to understand yourself in relation to the many “strangers” in our global community. You will gain a heightened understanding of your own unique worldview, as well as realize the common threads of our shared and universal humanity, within our global communities. 

5. PRATICE CITIZENSHIP  –   Apply principles of ethical leadership, collaborative engagement, socially responsible behavior, respect for diversity in an interdependent world, and a service-oriented commitment to advance and sustain local and global communities.

Foster a Respect and Ability to Collaborate with Diverse Others. In our culturally and religiously pluralistic world it is critical that we develop a tolerance of and respect for the varied communities of other peoples.  An appreciation and understanding of the varied communities in this course is an essential first step in facilitating a heightened ability to effectively communicate, cooperate, and collaborate with those who may differ from us.  It is an essential to our ability to "give back" and help others.  In this seminar, you will also develop your ability in respecting as well as your skills in civic engagement and collaborating with diverse communities, as developed pedagogically within the seminar.  

Note: Reflect on the underlined words (above) of the General Education Learning Outcomes.   A strong case can be made that each learning outcome is predicated on an essential human capacity and competencies, what the Schitsu’umsh call - Snukwnkhwtskhwts’mi’ls - literally meaning “fellow sufferer” or what is called “empathy.  This is the capacity (intellectual and/or affective) to project one's self into another's experience, and better appreciate that experience from another's perspective.

 

Textbook:

Carry Forth the Stories: An Ethnographer’s Journey into Native Oral Tradition (Washington State University Press 2017)

 

Integrated Studies Experience:

Along with ISEM 101 and Senior Experience, the ISEM 301 seminars are part of the Integrated Studies component of the university’s General Education. This curriculum seeks to enhance student competencies in integrative thinking, which are critical for problem solving, creativity and innovation, and communication and collaboration. Integrated learning is defined as the competency to attain, use, and develop knowledge from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, such as the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, with disciplinary specialization (to think divergently, distinguishing different perspectives), and to incorporate information across disciplines and perspectives (to think convergently, re-connecting diverse perspectives in novel ways). It is a cumulative learning competency, initiated as a first-year student and culminating as your senior year.