Storytelling

Story telling is an ancient human art, which many of us have assigned to professionals -- novels, film-makers, television writers and so on. However, each of us can learn to tell good stories and can use stories to understand intricate situations more completely and to move people to a different understanding of the world in which we live. In this class, we will use the skills of storytelling and oral societies to help us identify a research agenda for creating the scenarios we need.

In preparation for the class on Thursday 4 November, I would like each person to prepare the following:

1) Think of a story that you can tell in 3 minutes.

2) Think of a saying that is still in use.

3) Think of an unwritten law you have seen working in your family or your workplace or school.

4) Think of something in society around you that you have noticed but cannot explain. This should be something that you know is important because it gives you a physical sensation, such as a tingling in your spin, or a twitch between your shoulder blades or a punch in your stomach.

5) Finally, if you could ask the Oracle at Delphi anything about the future of the internet, what would you like to know?

Two national, civil society scenario projects you might find interesting can be found on the web at:

[1] Tanzania [2]Kenya

Take a look. Can you tell which one of these was the first project we did in East Africa?

See you all tomorrow evening,

Barbara Heinzen