Storytelling and Identity - Fall 2023

we are made of stories

Draft of Class Commitments

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On September 4, 2023

In Uncategorized

Here is a first draft of our commitments, based on the lists you wrote on the board:

Storytelling and Identity Fall 2023 Community Agreements

We commit to ground our community in respect. We will do this by:

  1. Saying hi and checking in with each other before class, using each others names
  2. Listening to hear first, and waiting  to think of a  response
  3. Not interrupting when someone is speaking
  4. Showing that we are listening by keeping eyes open to give full attention, and not looking at computer or phone while someone is talking.
  5. Avoiding side conversations when someone is talking
  6. Not leaving the classroom for a break unless absolutely necessary; being on time and not leaving early

 

 

We commit to learn together by:

  1. Checking Weekly Schedule and preparing for the class to come by doing the assignment there (reading or writing or listening) and posting a prep note on the blog
  2. Helping each other in and outside of class
  3. Bringing the text to class so we can be specific and analytical
  4. Taking good class notes and responding when assigned
  5. Valuing ideas, staying curious and open
  6. Looking for opportunities to respond and give appropriate feedback (acting as a peer, or as a reader of a draft, etc. but not as a judge)

I added this:

Professor Dolson commits to:

  1. be available for office appointments
  2. facilitate class discussion
  3. post assignments to weekly schedule at least 48 hours in advance of class
  4. always make a rubric available for any graded item
  5. listen
  6. call students by their preferred name
  7. give feedback when asked

Prep Note 9/5 Ana Michaelis

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On September 4, 2023

In Ana, prep note

Reading Portfolio Keeping was eye-opening for me. It should me all the complexities that can come within a portfolio in matters of presentation, appealing to your audience, having variety, and demonstrating the learning process/growth. But it also made me realize that I have many questions surrounding the expectation of our portfolio. Is this a portfolio to showcase presentation or learning? What does our professor expect of us/hope to see? When are we supposed to begin? Will our whole class have the opportunity to peer review or see our portfolio? How are we supposed to cite sources? And I could go on. I am hoping we will have some class time to work through the process and expectations a little more.

Out of this novel, I think the concept I am going to try the hardest to showcase in my portfolio is reflection, and finding people to peer review with. I am going to work to constantly be going back and looking at my artifacts/portfolio, and always making note of how I am feeling about it, what I want to improve, and doing the same with other peoples work.

With the two articles we read regarding memory, the statistics about what percent of conversations are about telling stories during the day compared to being surrounding by a camp fire a night were very interesting, and definitely significant. I also liked learning about how you can work to improve a child’s memory by reviewing what you did during the day through open ended questions. That this helps them efficiently process their memories.

I also began to read Writing Our Way Out and I am truly loving it, in fact it was difficult for me to put down. Reading the prologue and introduction helped me get a more thorough understanding of the work David Coogan has and is doing in regards to the justice system, working to help improve society, and telling people’s stories. Many people regard prisoners as different, unlabeled people in this society. Coogan called them “blurry shapes with glaring eyes”. As people, we have to separate them from us. because if we don’t, then maybe we would get too close to realizing that in reality we are all people, and we are all connected in some way. Coogan teaches us by sharing their stories, putting names to ex-offenders/prisoners, that everyone has a story, helping us to connect in a deeper way. Helping us realize and understand, that most of these people have been going through trauma since they wore born, opening our eyes to how sheltered we are in comparison.

These men need empathy, education, and rehabilitation. Not punishment that makes it worse, causing them relapse into the same crime they had committed before being punished. Coogan has already helped me see that we are more connected than we think, and everyone must do something no matter who you are, if we want anything to change.

Prep Note 09/05/23

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On September 4, 2023

In Julia, prep note

After reading the Portfolio book, I better understand what to expect for my portfolio this semester. I have taken a creative writing class before and at the end of each term, we created our own digital portfolios that consisted of our work from each term and any improvements we would want to make to the pieces. I never found it necessarily helpful since each piece was graded individually, but I look forward to this portfolio because I already have somewhat of an idea of what I want it to look like. While the book did talk about digital portfolios, I thought of ways to organize myself throughout the semester, so that when it’s time to put everything together it is one place. I honestly am just excited to make the final product and see how my writing has progressed through this class.

I found the articles about memory and storytelling very interesting, and almost relatable. When we shared stories about our injuries during Roadmap, I was able to tell my story based on a series of images I had in my head. I feel like I have heard the story so many times, that I can easily recite it when people ask. I thought this related to the article because even though I cannot remember exactly what was said, done, etc., I have heard my mom and dad tell me enough times to piece the events together.

During high school, I also took an AP Psychology course and learned a lot about memory and development. This article brought a whole new component, storytelling, and how memory and “the self” impact each person’s recollection. I believe an important part of storytelling lies in the passing down of stories from generations. I have learned so much about my parents, grandparents, and their parents that I would never have known if my parents didn’t tell me. I find it helps to talk about stories with one another, even if you can’t relate to them, it’s always good to listen.

Prep Note 9/5/23

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On September 3, 2023

In Kaylee, prep note

After reading the portfolio guide, I am much less nervous about what the course has in store. Before reading the book, I had only ever heard of art portfolios so I was confused about what a writing portfolio might look like. Now I know that there are two main types of portfolios. They can either be physical or online. Online portfolios have more opportunities to include materials to help showcase yourself, such as music, pictures, or videos. There are various ways to organize each one, and I’m excited to learn which type of portfolio we will be making this semester.

I thought that the articles were extremely interesting as well. I believe that storytelling is innate to humans, I just think that how we tell stories differs from person to person. You can tell a lot about someone from the way they tell stories, so I can see where storytelling as a child affects our later personalities. Storytelling is a way to not only socialize but to learn. Making sure that children and people overall have good storytelling interactions is a huge way for us to grow together as a society.

Prep Note 9/5/23

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On September 3, 2023

In kristine, prep note

While reading through “Portfolio Keeping,” I was reminded of when I had to make a research portfolio for my AP Research class last year. This class requires you to do a year-long research project, which all culminates into a 20-minute oral presentation and a 5000-word research paper. This was one of the most academically intensive classes I had ever taken in high school because the whole process of doing a research project was new to me. But once I had submitted all of my finished work to College Board, I was told to make a portfolio of the research process. Luckily, I had stayed very organized throughout the year and labeled every document I had ever made for the project and kept them in a folder labeled “AP Research.” Therefore, it was easy to gather any straggling materials and officially put my portfolio together.

At the beginning of the year, my teacher suggested we keep a journal and take a few minutes after every class to write about our progress. Since I regularly keep a diary, I found that this would be a great way for me to keep track of my progress and to rant about anything stress-inducing (which was pretty much all of it). This journal ended up being my best resource when putting together my final portfolio. I made this journal the central hub of my portfolio and I could refer to it any time I needed to know what I did on a specific date (I labeled each entry with a date). It also served as a reference for my portfolio evaluator (in this case, my teacher) because whenever I mentioned working on a specific document, my teacher could go back into my folder and view it as needed.

All in all, I enjoyed the process of making this portfolio and even viewing it after I’ve finished the whole project. I had never done a project like this before, so this organized documentation makes me feel proud of all I accomplished in AP Research. I hope that whatever portfolio we create for this class will be just as exciting to me. I do know that I can refer back to my prior experience of making a portfolio when creating a new one in the future.

Prep Note – 9/05/2023

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On September 3, 2023

In Mitch, prep note

I hadn’t ever considered composing a portfolio before taking this class; prior to this blog I wasn’t really sure what a portfolio even was. In my opinion, portfolio keeping seems like such a formal analysis of worth in contrast to works of art, but I know there’s a point to it. I see art as a thoughtful form of self expression rather than any sort of competition or measurable metric where one can be ‘better’ than another at making art. However, I’m not in a position to be able to judge portfolios as a concept, mostly because I’ve never composed one myself, so I’ll stick to writing about what I could possibly gain out of making one.

I’m not much of a writer, so I don’t have an extensive bank of content with which to make a writing portfolio, but I can see myself making a portfolio as a musician. I’d be more inclined to put together a presentation portfolio rather than a process portfolio because I tend to look down on my older works and favor ones I’ve made having had more experience. Although, reflecting on my production workflow is something I’ve seldom considered and may do me some good, since my creative process can be described as inspiration-fueled bursts of chaotic energy. This isn’t to say that any form of workflow is objectively more correct, but some yield more content than others (heuristics over perfectionism, for example).

I was at first opposed to the idea of a portfolio because I want art forms (namely music) to be a creative outlet, not something that can be intruded upon by optimization and performance maximization. For this same reason, I didn’t want to transform my hobby of music into a career in which I would have to cater to the wants of the majority in order to make a living. Despite all this, I still believe some good can come out of making a portfolio, albeit less professionally and more so to self-analyze.

09/03 Prep Note

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On September 3, 2023

In Angelos

One of the main takeaways from the last lesson we had was about the importance of a leader in a collaborative project. Taking Leadership 101 and connecting it to the introductory knowledge we have received, it was absorbing to realize how broad the concept of leadership is can be applied even to small things like a collaborative assignment.

Except for that, I was really passionate about the discussion we had about grading since I was generally surprised by the grading system my professors have here at the university and I truly wanted to hear others’ opinions about it. It was interesting hearing not only the different grading systems each professor has but mostly the conclusion of what grades actually are and to what extent they are meaningful to our lives. This changed up to an extent the way I approach classes and grading.

After the class, I read the 2 assigned articles regarding storytelling. The first one is titled The Stories Our Parents Tell Us. I generally know that the biggest part of our personality is determined when we are between 2-6 years old and therefore it makes a lot of sense how influenced we are by how others share stories that was the main point of the article. I found the second article even more interesting due to the depth of analysis it contains. It was fascinating reading how shaping storytelling is and was even hundreds of thousands years ago due to the fact that in the dark microexpressions can now be seen. And that made me realise firstly the human nature of people; how we need to share our stories and experiences with others as social beings, how challenging it can be sometimes and how a simple action like setting a fire can actually create a completely different environment for people. To be more specific, I also made the connection with the first lessons of this course where we had to share our stories by making eye contact with a stranger; that was awkward and challenging up to an extent but after that it was much easier sharing the same stories to more people as a circle.

Prep Note 9/5/23

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On September 2, 2023

In prep note, Will S

After reading the two articles about the connections between storytelling and memory, I believe that memory has a huge impact on our identities and the people that we are. Which means that storytelling does too. By telling stories about our past and forcing ourselves to recollect important moments of our lives, we learn more about ourselves. It makes sense to me that by then telling other people about our memories in the form of a story will only solidify the lessons we’ve learned for our memories.

This could even go beyond personal examination as, like the Los Angeles Times article suggests, listening and telling stories can teach us about the people around us and the culture we inhabit. By thinking about which memories and stories stand out to us, we can evaluate what events, ideas, people, and places are the most important to us, or whoever else is telling a story.

In reading these two articles, I was forced to think about how essential memory is to the person I am. My memories of time with my family and friends can tell me about why I enjoy certain activities or pastimes. Memories of bad experiences can tell me about why I don’t like specific things or ideas. My memories are much more important to the person I am than I thought they were, and by telling other people about them in the form of a story, I, in tandem with the listener, can begin to understand more about the person I am.

Response to Class Notes – 8/31/23

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On August 31, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Kaylee

This is a response to the Daily Class Notes of 8/31

I really liked the flow of the conversation we had as a group in class. We went from talking about our past experiences to how we hope our future experiences within the class go. When it came to our past experiences, people made great points about leadership and how someone usually steps up to the plate so to speak.

We then talked about how there are certain leadership qualities that a person or people might have such as:

  • Keeping people on task
  • Being a “grounding” force
  • Listening to ideas
  • Having respectful discussions

Everyone who spoke agreed that working in a group (as long as everyone does their share of the work) is one of the best ways to get things done and to work towards a common goal. Our discussion highlighted how there needs to be an emergent leader for the group to function the best as well. When talking about emergent leaders one of our classmates told a story of when their friend was an emergent leader and was able to plan a trip for them.

Toward the end of the conversation, we talked about grading policies and how different ones work. Most students are used to a more standard grading system, but some interesting ones were brought up and conversations happened around them. One grading system that was mentioned was a contract system. The contract system allowed students to think about their attendance and the effort they wanted to put into a class. If you miss one class and put in a certain level of effort, you can agree to get an A. If you miss many classes and barely put in any effort you can agree to get a D. Basically you decide what your grade is, but you must agree to and meet certain criteria. Another grading system brought up was a more “secret” system. Students don’t know their grades, instead, they just know that they have to be on their best behavior and try their hardest. People agreed that it would be nerve-racking, but that it has the potential to be a good system.

Grades are something that is on everyone’s minds, especially at the University of Richmond. During the discussion today I believe that our class was able to come together once again for a great discussion where many great ideas/stories were shared. We talked about how it’s truly the mastering of skills that are reflected in grades. With this mastery in mind, I believe that this semester is going to be a learning curve for us all, but overall it will be a great learning experience.

prep note 8/31

By

On August 31, 2023

In Chang

My experience of successfully doing something with a group is establishing the BJHSDL (Beijing High School Debate League).

I was the president of debate club in my high school and our club members prepared a lot to participate in NSDA Beijing Regional. In December 2021, NSDA (Nathional Speech& Debate Association) tournaments have been canceled in China due to the sensitive context in their evidence packet. Their efforts were in vain and many club members were discouraged.

I was disappointed and talked about this with other debate club leaders in Beijing. Finally, we decided to held a tournament by ourselves using the NSDA resolution, and the BJHSDL was established. We set schedule and hired judges. The competition went successfully and we attracted more than 100 teams to attend.

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