MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Folklife Center (VFC) will host a day-long workshop on Friday, May 19, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. “Storytelling for Social Change” will introduce attendees to collaborative documentary and storytelling skills, interviewing skills, and the design and planning of project ideas. The workshop will be held at the VFC headquarters in Middlebury, at 88 Main St.
Storytelling, oral history and ethnography can be powerful tools for capturing voices, memories and personal histories. They can also be catalysts for activism and social change. The workshop will explore the ethics and techniques of oral history, ethnography, and storytelling as activist research methodologies. Attendees will see and discuss short media peices and will learn the basics of corresponding skills such as interviewing, story circle facilitation, and ethnographic observation. The workshop will also cover the technical aspects of storytelling for social change, providing an introduction to minimal resource audio recording tools.
The workshop is intended for students, community members, and staff members of nonprofit cultural, community and social-service agencies interested in developing collaborative documentary or storytelling skills. In addition to developing attendees’ collaborative research abilities, it seeks to expand attendees listening skills — and by extension, interviewing skills — while also encouraging attendees to consider the challenges, possibilities, and ethics of representation. A discussion of project ideas will end the day
Kathleen Haughey, VFC executive director & ethnomusicologist and Mary Rizos, VFC director of education & photographer, will lead the workshop. Tuition is $95. Attendance is limited to 14 and the registration deadline is May 18. Register by calling 802-388-4964. Registration forms are also available on the VFC website to be printed and mailed with payment to: Workshops, VFC, 88 Main St., Middlebury, VT 05753.