Transformative Storytelling is a blend of theory and practice, emphasizing the transformative power of storytelling in the way that stories are designed and shared. Throughout the course, we will explore how narrative medicine intersects with emerging technology and new modes of communication to create impactful digital experiences focused on health, care, and well-being.
Students will work in pairs to design and prototype a transformative storytelling experience that not only engages the audience but also transforms their understanding. This course integrates paired project work, mentorship, and cutting-edge technologies, fostering a dynamic, hands-on environment where story and code converge.
Over the semester, pairs of students will collaborate to design transformative storytelling experiences that combine storytelling, play, and emerging technology. The project will culminate in a presentation to a panel of subject matter experts during our final class, providing an opportunity to showcase their work and receive professional feedback. The course is modeled after similar labs that the Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab has helped develop or mentor for organizations such as Sundance, Tribeca, and PBS, where storytelling becomes a transformative force through the innovative use of technology.
Note: This course is open to all students, and no previous coding experience is required.
This interdisciplinary graduate seminar is designed to bring together students from multiple disciplines within the School of the Arts working in different forms as well as students from other graduate programs in the university who are interested in examining the subversive nature of art and artists in society.
Readings and visual material will cover diverse ways of thinking about how art and artists are catalysts for social change from the point of view of artists and their audiences. How do artists cultivate their imaginations? How do these imaginings disrupt society? Readings will be taken from texts such as: C.J. Jung
Active Imagination,
Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi
Flow
, Mircea Eliade,
Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism
, Jack Halberstam
Wild Things: The Disorder of Desire,
William Blake
The Book of Urizen
, James Baldwin
The Fire Next Time,
Guy Debord The
Society of the Spectacle
, Johan Huizinga
Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture
, Jacques Rancière
The Emancipated Spectator
, Augusto Boal
Theatre of the Oppressed
.
These readings will help establish a common discourse with which to discuss how art and artists subvert society and also allow us to reflect on how artists prepare and sustain themselves to actualize the messages they seek to convey.
MFA Film students in their 3rd, 4th and 5th years register for this class to maintain full-time enrollment status.
Research Arts for MFA Writing Program - Students Must Have Completed 60 Points to Register