EDUCATION

• From its onset, Herstory has partnered closely with those at the cutting edge of designing innovative programs for students and faculty.  Such initiatives have included integrating personalized writings into curriculum, community outreach opportunities, work with immigrant students and professional development.  See In The Schools  for many more examples of Herstory’s scope in educational settings.

• In-service training for teachers of writing, literature, social studies, cultural studies and other disciplines can provide educators with much-needed tools for the development of skills, while helping those who impact students’ lives to locate the hidden stories that too often become obstacles to their flourishing.  For example: 

• Beyond Journaling:  New Classroom Tools is  a six-week  program targeted to educators and guidance counselors working at all grade levels in transforming personal writing into art.  Topics include “scene-making to help a reading stranger to walk in your shoes,” “daring a reader to care, and thinking about your own life as a story.”  Participants are helped to adapt this empathy-based approach to their own classroom needs, while exploring ways to engage a full group.   An effective tool for tolerance and skills building!  This program is registered with BOCES of Eastern Suffolk County.  This program is registered with BOCES of Eastern Suffolk County.  http://www.esboces.org/AIE/AIE_Program_Search.cfm and enter Herstory as organization.

• Journeys to Justice/Writing of the Moments that Made Us This workshop will help students in grades 6 – 12 to pinpoint the moments when they became aware of injustice in their lives, as they plan how to write about them for a reader. Through creation of scenes designed to dare a reading stranger to walk in their shoes, students will learn how writing can be used to fight hatred and discrimination, celebrating roots, history, aspirations and dreams. Spanish, English or bilingual model presentations—as well as multi-session residencies — are available.

• SUNY Old Westbury continues its ‘OurStory’ project that convenes students to share their stories of immigration to put a face on the current great wave of immigration, dispelling myths and challenging prejudices. Using Herstory methods, students find their own voices to better understand their family’s history, and to share their stories with classmates and the broader college community as part of a Civic Engagement placement and culminating college-wide presentation.

• Windows Into Our Lives, a Women’s History Month celebration at CW Post, brings together 50-75 students and professors in an extended writing circle as together they work out strong opening moments for the larger stories that they wish to tell.