This course is taught in Spanish. Students must have proficiency in Spanish equivalent to SPAN 112. When we consciously appropriate the power of stories to collectively reimagine our world, we turn the word story into a verb. We "story" our world. When our "storying" seeks to transform a system founded on unjust stories, we are "restorying" our world. This course begins with our human ability, and need, to tell stories, examining how we use them for communication, as well as how we become empowered or disenfranchised by them. Based on the realities present in our communities (our local community of place, college campuses, cities, neighborhoods, spiritual communities, etc.), students work with their counterparts, combining theory with practice, to create and tell stories with the goal of identifying shared conflicts and inspiring change. Since stories are told in many ways, the course engages the "telling" through various methods: writing stories and poems, Spoken Word, coloring/drawing, mapmaking, and moving our bodies. In each project, we implement the elements of storytelling, balancing distinct narrative traditions, such as myth and legend, with influences of the modern world. Readings look at a wide array of narrative theory and methods, focusing on storytelling as a form of creating and expressing knowledge. The course concludes with the interweaving of local and international stories into "our stories." |