Congratulations to SAM members Aimee DuBois and the late Jennifer Isaac (shown here during a storytelling tour of Norway), who together with Chad Kuyper received the 2019 Minnesota State Innovation in Global Education Award for educating students about storytelling beyond the U.S.
The award recognizes high impact practices of faculty and staff from around the state that increase students' understanding of the growing interdependence of nations and peoples through cross-cultural and international experiences. Over the past few years, the three colleagues in the Department of Communication at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN, have promoted cultural understanding through the art of storytelling. Their study abroad classes have explored the oral tradition in the British Isles, Australia/New Zealand, and Scandinavia. As their nominator wrote, “Storytelling is at the heart of intercultural understanding. Stories reinforce values, tradition, and beliefs.”
Students participating in the “Storytelling in the British Isles" course heard professional storytellers from Scotland, Ireland, and England, and performed at the internationally-renowned Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh.
Those traveling to Australia and New Zealand heard from Australian native Paul Taylor, a professional storyteller, didgeridoo player, and traveler. His storytelling included creation stories and artifacts that made his performance come alive. Students also heard stories from Maori and Aboriginal elders.
In Scandinavia, students were joined by Lise Lunge-Larson, a scholar of Scandinavian history and literature. Lise brought to life the storytelling traditions of ancient Scandinavian culture by performing tales of princes, trolls, and nisse (gnomes). Richard Karpan met the group in Copenhagen “in character” as Hans Christian Andersen, who then regaled the class with stories about his life, even performing a few fairytales.
The students who traveled with professors Isaac, DuBois, and Kuyper learned that storytelling is an integral part of human nature, and that stories unite people across cultures by fostering understanding and empathy.