AMY MAIELLO HAGEDORN TRAINING INSTITUTE
In Partnership with the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University
and Coalition for Community Writing

At the heart of Herstory’s work is our training program which brings together an inter-age cohort of graduate fellows from all over the county with teachers, writers, retirees, community activists, healthcare and human service providers and young Dreamers, dedicated to creating brave spaces to elevate the voices of those whose stories are silenced and unsung. 

In partnership with the Coalition for Community Writing, from which we draw our national fellows, and the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook University, where our Long Island and online programming is umbrella-d, we offer two semester-long immersion in Herstory's pedagogy and practice, to prepare those who are interested in working in alternative settings for work in the field.
 

Each new cohort spends its first semester in a 13-week practicum that combines a hands-on workshop with an intensive immersion in the Herstory pedagogy.  During the second semester participants are assigned individually tailored, supervised field placements with institutions, community and advocacy groups partnering with Herstory
and the Humanities Institute, according to their interests and skills sets.
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A new cohort takes shape each September, ensuring that Herstory will be offering field placements year-round.  Our official call for applicants for the next cohort will be circulated in April of 2022.  
 
To download an application, click here.
 

Our eight cohorts of trainees have included a former director of the literature program of the National Endowment for the Arts, a professor of Mathematics from Queensboro Community College, a past president of New York State TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), graduate and undergraduate students from Stony
Brook, Hofstra, Adelphi, Old Westbury, and LIU Post, a retired elementary school principal, an army veteran medic, a director of a re-entry task force, a retiree from a long career in public health and nursing education, a filmmaker, several visual artists, organizational leaders, Dreamers, human rights activists, and much more.  
 

In 2018 and 2019, through a special grant from the Regional Economic Development Council/ New York State Council on the Arts, we established a fellowship program for 6 Stony Brook graduate students in the Humanities, leading to new workshops in Spanish for Rural Migrant Ministry and extending our fastest growing program for young people

who crossed the border by themselves, along with a now permanent disabilities program. In the fall of 2020, we joined forces with the Coalition for Community Writing to create a national fellowship program, leading to our first ever Herstory Mississippi Project, work with women and transgender folx experiencing homelessness in Denver, Colorado, a workshop for Syrian refugee women living in refugee camps in Lebanon, who were married before the age of 18, and a national/international writing project to (re)imagine mental health care.
 
Despite the wide variety in age, life trajectory and current student or employment status,  all have brought to our interviews a remarkably parallel wish: to go deeper into the work they are already doing with literature, community, empowerment and healing through engaging in our process and reaching the people who most need a voice at this time in history. All have come at a moment they define as a turning point in their lives,  when they are seeking a new direction.     
 

If you are at a turning point in your life and feel that this could be a new direction for you, we invite you to join our first round of early applicants. We are particularly seeking speakers of other languages, with a large increase in the demand for new workshops for our immigrant students and community members. 
 
Fall 2022 Semester
During the first semester, participants are fully immersed in Herstory's pedagogy. This includes participation in a hands-on weekly writing workshop in which they will have the opportunity to explore the pedagogy from the inside, while studying the principles that make the Herstory method so effective. Online meetings take place every Thursday From 10:30 am to 1:30 pm, allowing for people from a wide geographical area to participate fully. 
 
Spring 2022 Semester
As the first semester draws to a close, participants will assist in designing individualized field placements with organizations partnering with Herstory to advance peace and justice.*  We particularly welcome speakers of other languages interested in working with young people and communities at risk. We are open to helping community members create placements at their own sites.   

Note: 
A two-semester commitment, with full attendance in the fall 2022 practicum, followed by field placement in the spring of 2023, is a requirement for acceptance into the program.  Following graduation from the institute, a limited number of paid opportunities will be offered.

To Apply:
Applications will be considered on a competitive basis in the order in which they are received. Training is offered to selected candidates free of charge. If you have any questions, please contact Herstory's artistic director, Erika Duncan at eduncan@herstorywriters.org
 

* Partnerships created by the fellows have engendered include workshop with women from Rural Migrant Ministries in Riverhead;  an "Abriendo Puertas" workshop for Head Start parents, a workshop at Hofstra University in which
criminology students write side by side with people returning from prison, a workshop at Stony Brook University in which female veterans write side by side with students seeking the missing pages in the Literature of War. 
 

To learn more about the Coalition for Community Writing, click here.