Did you know?
UNT is the only American university invited
to participate in the 2007 China (Guangdong)
University Fashion Fair May 29 through June 3.
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UNT Insider | May 2007 Issue | Art of Storytelling |
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Students create online concert to carry on art of storytellingFrom a UNT News Service press release |
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Ripped from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, student Melodie Franklin tells of her longing for the city in a poem, "Home Not Home." Her story and others are available now in an online storytelling concert, created by graduate students in the School of Library and Information Sciences. Creating Ripples … Making Waves: A Storytelling Concert about Transformation can be viewed at http://courses.unt.edu/efiga/CreatingRipplesMakingWaves/. 
The 16 students in the Advanced Storytelling Class recorded themselves via digital video telling personal tales, such as Franklin's, or reciting classic tales, such as The Gift of the Magi. The students started the Internet class as fairly inexperienced storytellers, Franklin says, but they worked together with the hope of encouraging others to carry on the art of storytelling. "Anyone can tell a story," says Franklin, who took the class via the Internet from Baton Rouge. Franklin graduated May 12 with a master's degree in school and youth librarianship and just accepted a job in the children's department at Lafayette Public Library in Louisiana. "We hope that people will see these stories, be inspired and want to tell a story of their own." The web site includes a description and age rating for each story, as well as a biography of each student. The stories are categorized by themes. The theme of "Recent Ripples: Personal or Modern Tales" includes such stories as Jennifer Torkkola's tale "How Boredom Made Me a Bride," about boring summer days in Paris, Texas, that led to meeting her Australian husband on the Internet. Tales themed as "The Waves of Once Was: Historical Stories" feature long-ago people and places teaching valuable lessons. Stories and myths under the theme of "Endless Eddies: Timeless Tales" revolve around the consequences of our choices. "Storytelling does not end in childhood," says Dawn Seymour, one of the students in the class. "Teens and adults benefit from hearing stories not only for entertainment, but also to help in understanding the world and contextualizing relationships." This is the seventh online concert produced over the last several years by students of Elizabeth Figa, assistant professor of library and information sciences. UNT News Service Phone Number: (940) 565-2108 |
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Read other stories in this issue:
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May 2007 About UNT InsiderThe UNT Insider, a monthly e-newsletter, connects UNT alumni and others to the university by letting you hear
directly from President Gretchen M. Bataille.
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