Storytelling Best Practices
Notes on Studs Terkel
“Looking back I think he was kind of a soulful polymath—responding to humanity as he encountered it, in the studio, in the books.” – George Drury on Studs Terkel On a recent summer day at the …
I Am Not My Parent’s Mistakes: Stories from Children of Incarcerated Parents
Sophie Edelhart Sophie Edelhart is a senior at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco. Outside of school, she serves on the San Francisco Youth Commission, a body of seventeen young …
Knowing Nothing: Curiosity in Oral History
By Joell Hallowell Joell is a writer, editor, and experimental filmmaker living in San Francisco. Her books include Lawfully Wedded Wives (Spuyten Duyvil, 2013) and Take Me to the River (Heyday Books, 2010). With Meg Withers (interviewed on WordMothers …
We All Have a Story to Tell
“We all have a story to tell.” These are the words that greet my 4th grade students as they enter my classroom every day. At the beginning of the school year, I told them my …
Oral History and Vulnerability
Renowned oral historian Alessandro Portelli refers to the optimal interview experience as a “mutual sighting” between interviewer and narrator. Sounds great, doesn’t it? I’d like to have a mutual sighting! Who wouldn’t? As an educator, …
What’s Your Story?
by William Ayers William Ayers is a member of the Voice of Witness Educational Advisory Board. He is a former Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago …
How Are Single Stories Dangerous?
By Claire Sorrenson Claire Sorrenson is a former Voice of Witness Education Program Intern with a passion for telling stories that drive social change. Claire currently works in the nonprofit communications sector. By now, anyone …
The Delicate Act of Oral History
By Inge Oosterhoff, former VOW Education Intern Before starting as an intern at Voice of Witness, I had little experience with oral history. I came to Voice of Witness as a Dutch MA student of North …
