Story Work for a Just Future: Exploring the Plurality of Knowledge and Method within the Digital Storytelling Community
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press (2025), xiii, 227 pp.
Contains bibliogr. pp. 187-203, index
CC BY-NC
"[...] new digital formats require people to craft their stories in new ways while capturing the emotion, nuance, and themes of what they remember and what they believe to be significant. They must learn through reflection, questioning, consideration, trial, revision, and feedback—and chapters in the book highlight efforts like workshopping at Berkeley’s StoryCenter, the Smithsonian’s Learning Lab, and elsewhere to give people a facility with digital technology to enable them to tell their stories. This is quite a transformation when one considers that for most of recent history the ability to disseminate stories was in the hands of those who controlled the means of story production—publishers, radio stations, and music, television, and movie companies. Now, with widespread digital access, anyone can, at least theoretically, become their own publisher, their own media company, their own distribution center. The locus of creativity and production does not have to be a Hollywood lot or a music studio—it can be, as illustrated herein, a community center, kitchen table, shelter, clinic, library, or school. The democratization of the production process means access to and participation in a much larger civic space.
The purpose of Digital Storytelling exemplified in this collection of case studies and examples is not propagandistic or about spreading misinformation and distrust that nefariously aim to destabilize and even undermine societies. Nor is it about somehow imitating human storytelling by using artificial intelligence to entertain and intrigue audiences. Rather it is about encouraging people to tell their story and thus participate in the civic life of their community, group, nation, and the world. It is about their active, vital role in contributing to a larger good that they may enhance, enlarge, or elucidate by fashioning their experiences and lessons into a receivable format.
As is apparent throughout the volume’s project descriptions and free-flowing conversations, Digital Storytelling is young enough that it retains an emergent quality characteristic of a growing form of cultural creativity and expression. Given that digital media will be with us for a long time, one would expect Digital Storytelling to branch out in an increasing diversity of ways, forms, and contexts. And as it grows and diversifies, one would expect its challenges—matters of storyteller privacy and discretion, thresholds of individual and community participation in securing resources and facilities, the underpreparation of participants and the overfacilitation of guides and mentors, limits of copyright and the fair use of digital components, the ethics of dissemination and reactions to reception—to also be addressed in a variety of ways." (Foreword, pages vii-viii)
The purpose of Digital Storytelling exemplified in this collection of case studies and examples is not propagandistic or about spreading misinformation and distrust that nefariously aim to destabilize and even undermine societies. Nor is it about somehow imitating human storytelling by using artificial intelligence to entertain and intrigue audiences. Rather it is about encouraging people to tell their story and thus participate in the civic life of their community, group, nation, and the world. It is about their active, vital role in contributing to a larger good that they may enhance, enlarge, or elucidate by fashioning their experiences and lessons into a receivable format.
As is apparent throughout the volume’s project descriptions and free-flowing conversations, Digital Storytelling is young enough that it retains an emergent quality characteristic of a growing form of cultural creativity and expression. Given that digital media will be with us for a long time, one would expect Digital Storytelling to branch out in an increasing diversity of ways, forms, and contexts. And as it grows and diversifies, one would expect its challenges—matters of storyteller privacy and discretion, thresholds of individual and community participation in securing resources and facilities, the underpreparation of participants and the overfacilitation of guides and mentors, limits of copyright and the fair use of digital components, the ethics of dissemination and reactions to reception—to also be addressed in a variety of ways." (Foreword, pages vii-viii)
"The book is built on three main pillars: “Digital Storytelling as an Evolving Practice” (edited by Antonia Liguori), “Complexities of Story Work in Informal Education” (edited by Philippa Rappoport), and “Expanding Formal Education” (edited by Daniela Gachago). Daniela was invited as the third coeditor because of her long-standing experience in applying Digital Storytelling to innovative teaching and learning in academic contexts. This collection from 47 authors in 15 countries represents the diverse voices of our international Digital Storytelling community, both in style and in content. We hope it will inspire deeper connections, fruitful collaborations, and the creation and sharing of new stories that together will build a just future." (Preface, pages ix-x)
PART 1: DIGITAL STORYTELLING AS AN EVOLVING PRACTICE
1 Introduction: Celebrating Diverse Perspectives Through Our Story Work / Antonia Liguori, Philippa Rappoport, and Daniela Gachago, 3
2 Inspiration: Navigating The Virtual, Imagining The Tangible / A Conversation Between Pip Hardy and Joe Lambert, 13
3 “The Story in The Middle”: The Power of Collaborative Story Processes / Bill Shewbridge, Bev Bickel, Tania Lizarazo, Charlotte Keniston, Jamie Gillan, and Kaleigh Mrowka, 21
4 Food and Stories for Social Cohesion: Yadigâr, More than a Cookbook / Burcu Simsek and Sengúl Ince, 29
5 Changing the World, One Story at a Time: A Methodological Approach to Curating Stories of Lived Experience / Hayley Trowbridge, 47
6 I Am Not Listening: Poem Object as Hybrid Publication in the Post-Digital Era / Sally Morfill, Ana Cavic, and Tychonas Michailidis, 57
PART 2: COMPLEXITIES OF STORY WORK IN INFORMAL EDUCATION
7 Inspiration: Memory and Meaning Making Through Stories in Informal Education / Karen Worcman and Michael Atwood Mason, 71
8 Navigating and Negotiating Risks in Digital Storytelling Projects in Repressive Contexts [Uganda] / Cecilia Strand and Opio Sam Leticia, 75
9 The Ethics of Technics: Navigating the Margins of the Digital Ecosystem in a South African Community Museum / Pam Sykes, 87
10 Oral History at the National Museum of African American History and Culture: Voices of the Past Take us into the Future / Kelly Elaine Navies, 99
11 Enhance Social Skills and Become an Active Citizen: Results from a Four-Year Digital Storytelling Franco–Greek Project / Evika Karamagioli, Arnaud Laborderie, and Michalis Meimaris, 107
PART 3: EXPANDING FORMAL EDUCATION
12 Inspiration: Stories that Connect us / A Conversation Between Burcu Simsek and Michael Wilson, 117
13 A Plática On Digital Storytelling as a Culturally Relevant Practice / Maritza de La Trinidad and Francisco Guajardo, 123
14 “My Relationship With Mathematics”: A Digital Storytelling–Centered Investigation With Preservice Teachers / Andreas Moutsios-Rentzos, Fragkiskos Kalavasis, Michalis Meimaris, and Georgios Kritikos, 135
15 “Me, as Teacher of Economics–Work–Technology”: Exploring Digital Storytelling for Subject-Specific Teacher Professionalism / Heike Müller and Silke Bartsch, 147
16 With Heads and Hearts: A Cross-Disciplinary Application of Digital Storytelling at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences / Elaina J. W. Weber, Karen Winther, Erling Krogh, Gustav Vaaje-Kolstad, John-Andrew Mcneish, and Michael Moulton, 159
17 Digital Storytelling as Career Growth: How Montgomery College Designed An Internship Centered On Professional Development and Opportunities / Matthew Decker, Jamie Gillan, and Sara Bachman Ducey, 169
18 Inspiration: Expanding this Book Through Video Projects and Digital Collections / Michalis Meimaris and Brooke Hessler, 179
Afterword / Darren Milligan, 183
1 Introduction: Celebrating Diverse Perspectives Through Our Story Work / Antonia Liguori, Philippa Rappoport, and Daniela Gachago, 3
2 Inspiration: Navigating The Virtual, Imagining The Tangible / A Conversation Between Pip Hardy and Joe Lambert, 13
3 “The Story in The Middle”: The Power of Collaborative Story Processes / Bill Shewbridge, Bev Bickel, Tania Lizarazo, Charlotte Keniston, Jamie Gillan, and Kaleigh Mrowka, 21
4 Food and Stories for Social Cohesion: Yadigâr, More than a Cookbook / Burcu Simsek and Sengúl Ince, 29
5 Changing the World, One Story at a Time: A Methodological Approach to Curating Stories of Lived Experience / Hayley Trowbridge, 47
6 I Am Not Listening: Poem Object as Hybrid Publication in the Post-Digital Era / Sally Morfill, Ana Cavic, and Tychonas Michailidis, 57
PART 2: COMPLEXITIES OF STORY WORK IN INFORMAL EDUCATION
7 Inspiration: Memory and Meaning Making Through Stories in Informal Education / Karen Worcman and Michael Atwood Mason, 71
8 Navigating and Negotiating Risks in Digital Storytelling Projects in Repressive Contexts [Uganda] / Cecilia Strand and Opio Sam Leticia, 75
9 The Ethics of Technics: Navigating the Margins of the Digital Ecosystem in a South African Community Museum / Pam Sykes, 87
10 Oral History at the National Museum of African American History and Culture: Voices of the Past Take us into the Future / Kelly Elaine Navies, 99
11 Enhance Social Skills and Become an Active Citizen: Results from a Four-Year Digital Storytelling Franco–Greek Project / Evika Karamagioli, Arnaud Laborderie, and Michalis Meimaris, 107
PART 3: EXPANDING FORMAL EDUCATION
12 Inspiration: Stories that Connect us / A Conversation Between Burcu Simsek and Michael Wilson, 117
13 A Plática On Digital Storytelling as a Culturally Relevant Practice / Maritza de La Trinidad and Francisco Guajardo, 123
14 “My Relationship With Mathematics”: A Digital Storytelling–Centered Investigation With Preservice Teachers / Andreas Moutsios-Rentzos, Fragkiskos Kalavasis, Michalis Meimaris, and Georgios Kritikos, 135
15 “Me, as Teacher of Economics–Work–Technology”: Exploring Digital Storytelling for Subject-Specific Teacher Professionalism / Heike Müller and Silke Bartsch, 147
16 With Heads and Hearts: A Cross-Disciplinary Application of Digital Storytelling at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences / Elaina J. W. Weber, Karen Winther, Erling Krogh, Gustav Vaaje-Kolstad, John-Andrew Mcneish, and Michael Moulton, 159
17 Digital Storytelling as Career Growth: How Montgomery College Designed An Internship Centered On Professional Development and Opportunities / Matthew Decker, Jamie Gillan, and Sara Bachman Ducey, 169
18 Inspiration: Expanding this Book Through Video Projects and Digital Collections / Michalis Meimaris and Brooke Hessler, 179
Afterword / Darren Milligan, 183
