On Tuesday October 29th, about 50 members of the Slippery Rock and Grove City communities gathered at Beans on Broad, a coffee shop in downtown Grove City, to hear from three storytellers. 

At its core, the event aimed to celebrate and demonstrate the myriad ways storytelling is a central part of our lives.  “Plot Device” set out to break the stereotypes of storytelling and expand our audience’s notions of who storytellers are.  Storytelling is an art as old as the human race.  We have an innate compulsion to tell stories.  While the forms of storytelling evolve with the advent of new technologies, the drive remains the same. We want our stories to be heard, passed down, told and retold.

Student leaders from Slippery Rock University began the program by sharing opportunities for storytelling through their organizations.  Jenna Moses, senior Professional and Creative Writing major and co-managing editor of SLAB Literary Magazine, spoke about SLAB’s wide-reaching audience and their inclusivity of unique narrative forms.  Piper Jones, junior Gender Studies and Social Work major and co-president of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, promoted FMLA’s monologue writing and performance collection coming Spring 2020. 

You can find out more about SLAB & FMLA by following them on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook @slab.lit.mag and @fmlasru

Our first storyteller, Thomas Thompson, a recent SRU graduate, is the creator and writer of the “Dirty History” podcast.  Thomas joined us virtually via video chat and his co-creator, Andrew Henley, assisted in asking and answering questions.  His podcast focuses on the lesser known, unpleasant aspects of history that are frequently left out of public history.  Thomas shared about his process of finding material and creating narratives, explaining that the stories he shares already exist and merely need to be uncovered.  Thomas and Andrew spoke about how media and technology has changed storytelling, pointing out that podcasts are simply a modern continuation of the ancient tradition of oral storytelling.  When asked why it is important to tell these stories, Thomas defended the “dirty” side of history by saying that it is often misrepresented.  He said these stories deserve a place in history as they are without “sensationalizing or fetishizing them.” 
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You can find Thomas’s work here: Dirty History Podcast or follow him on social media @dirtyhistorypod

We transitioned to our next storyteller, the sensitive and soft-spoken Stephanie Strasburg.  Stephanie is a Pittsburgh-based photojournalist who is “drawn to explore the evolving landscape, economy, and sociopolitical conditions of the Rust Belt and is interested in developing new ways for stories to be found and shared in her community.”  Stephanie shared her long-term storytelling process, displaying photos and videos from some of the many stories she has given voice to.  She spoke about building trust with the subjects of her stories, which requires great empathy and respect for the people whose stories she tells.  Stephanie shared about the complexity of every person – no one is simply black and white, but rather we are gray, messy, fragile people. 

Find the story she shared at the event here: Life and Death on Santron Avenue
You can find Stephanie’s work here: Stephanie Strasburg Photo or follow her on social media @stephaniestrasburg

Our final storyteller, Joe Wos, is a professional cartoonist, maze creator, and author.  Joe is a dynamic speaker, incorporating live drawing, personal stories, and audience interaction.  Joe spoke about his journey as a cartoonist, demonstrating his drawing skills with a live illustration of one of the first stories he ever wrote.  He said that people are drawn to stories because there is something in every story that relates to us personally.  When asked by an audience member why he believes people respond so well to cartoons, Joe explained that cartoons do two contrasting things: they exaggerate and they simplify. Cartoons help us see ourselves and others in a more understandable way. 

You can find Joe’s work here: Maze Toons or follow him on social media @mazetoons

“Plot Device: Media & Storytelling” was an incredible evening.  Stay tuned for future Stone House Center for Public Humanities collaborative community programs!

Every October, we celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month.  This October, we are hosting an event called "Plot Device: Media & Storytelling."  This event will explore the idea of storytelling in the age of technology, featuring three speakers who construct their narratives through unorthodox and unique mediums.  

In preparation for our event, we asked Dr. Skeele, a theater professor at Slippery Rock University who teaches acting and playwriting and has directed over 40 shows, to share his thoughts on the arts and the importance of storytelling:

What drew you to the arts?

"The answer ties completely to the idea of story! I was obsessed with story from my very earliest years. My parents read to us and told us stories nightly, and it was the best and most important part of my whole day. I had a big wooden box filled with action figures and little plastic army men and cowboys and Indians, and I would spend untold hours creating scenarios with them. I lived in a wooded rural area, so trees and boulders and rocks in a stream became fantastical 'sets.' When I started school, I was way ahead of almost everyone when it came to reading, but I absolutely floundered in my understanding of math--and that was because abstract symbols were completely meaningless to me. However, give me a word problem where I could imagine the scene with people or animals--in other words, frame it as a story--and it became not only meaningful but exciting."

Do you consider yourself a storyteller?

"Absolutely! It drives everything I do as a writer, an actor and a director. In some ways, I feel I'm still out there on rocks in a stream, guiding characters through epic battles!"

Why is it important to you to tell stories?

"Stories are important to EVERYONE. They are what make sense of the total chaos of stimuli that is everyday life. They give us order and meaning and without them we would go completely insane."

What is your advice to arts students?

"Dig deep into yourself, be honest, be brave! I think artists are some of the bravest people on earth, and I admire them all. Also the luckiest and ultimately the sanest, because of the great relief it gives us to be able to hold our terrors and joys out at arms length and examine them. Not everyone is able to make a living as an art practitioner, but make sure that if you are one of those who is lucky and brave and sane enough to be driven to create, that you never stop creating!"

What inspires you?

"I just never know what is going to inspire me. Sometimes it's a news item, or sometimes it's a show where I start thinking what would happen if Character X did this instead of that? "

Why do you believe the arts are important to everyone, not just those in academia?

"I sometimes get students in my intro level theatre class who are skeptical about the importance of the arts, and we do an exercise where they are asked to consider every moment where they encounter the arts in a single day, from opening their eyes in the morning to closing them at night, and they can't believe how integral the arts are to their existence. In my opinion, the idea that the arts are some elitist, ivory-tower activity is idiotic. None of us can live without them; they are SO interwoven into the fabric of our existence."

What is something interesting that people might be surprised to learn about you?

"I love fresh-water snorkeling: my ideal retirement would involve lots of time exploring lakes and rivers looking for trout and bass and perch."

We hope you can join us next Tuesday, October 29th at 7:30 pm at Beans on Broad as we discuss and discover the multi-faceted nature of storytelling!
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The Humanities Ladder has been one of the Center’s programs since 2015.  Slippery Rock University faculty and local high schools collaborate to overcome social and cultural barriers to success in higher education.  Humanities Ladder students are afforded the opportunity to expand their horizons through exposure to college-level curriculum.  Dr. Yukako Ishimaru, a Humanities Ladder professor, and Ms. Diana Borowski, a Humanities Ladder classroom teacher, share their experiences with and highlight the value of the Humanities Ladder program.
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Dr. Yukako Ishimaru is a professor of Modern Languages and Cultures here at Slippery Rock University as well as a Humanities Ladder faculty at Union High School:

What is your role as a Humanities Ladder faculty?

“I teach Japanese culture in different contexts including schools, language, and traditional culture.”

Why did you choose to be a part of the Humanities Ladder program?

“I took this HL teaching opportunity as I wanted to provide an opportunity for the high school students to learn about other cultures, especially something like Japanese as they may have a chance to be exposed to Spanish and French culture/ language; however, there is hardly any opportunity when it comes to Asia in this area.”
 
What subjects and activities do you lead as part of the program?
 
“My class gives many hands-on activities such as calligraphy, tea ceremony, Japanese kimono try-on, etc.  One of the weeks, I take the visiting students from Saga University, an SRU partner university in Japan, to Union High School to have them meet and interact with Japanese people in their age.  They discuss several topics in groups.  Every time we do this, they learn that Japanese people, who they originally thought that would be very different from themselves, are no different.  That, I believe, is a strong learning experience, being able to relate themselves to something or someone so different.”
 
What do you see as the value of the Humanities Ladder program?
 
“The HL is a promising project with high impact.  HL has been able to give these students a valuable opportunity that they would not have had without HL.  Half of the class may be considering to pursue a higher education; however, at least the other half does not even think about it.  HL can be a life-changing moment for those students by connecting them to a higher education as its title suggests.  I am very honored to be a part of this project and will keep striving to improve my service.”
 
Ms. Diana Borowski is a History and English teacher at Union High School in New Castle as well as a classroom teacher with the Humanities Ladder:

What is your role as part of the Humanities Ladder program?
 
“When a professor from SRU is chosen to come into my classroom, it is my job to coordinate calendars with the professor, and also keep the professor up do date on any calendar and schedule changes within the high school. Last year my students were lucky enough to attend a field trip to Pittsburgh with the Humanities Ladder, so I also acted as the school liaison to SRU, coordinating permission slips, lunch menus, etc.  ”
 
What do you see as the value of the Humanities Ladder program?
 
“I think the Humanities Ladder allows my students to see a wider world beyond our small township.  I found that my students are very intrigued and excited when the professors are scheduled to attend class, and they sincerely look forward to those days.”

Why did you choose to be a part of the Humanities Ladder program?

“3 years ago, my administration came to me with the proposal to bring the Humanities Ladder into my classroom, and after gathering the information, I was intrigued by the possibilities SRU could bring to my class.  As an SRU Alumna, I know first-hand the level of education SRU can provide, and I was excited to be able to share a bit of that education with my sophomores.”

​Today we remember the 2,996 people from all over the world who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks 18 years ago, along with their loved ones. We also honor all the first responders who have suffered as a result of the attack, both mentally and physically. Since that day, 1,140 people around the World Trade Centers were diagnosed with cancer from the toxins at Ground Zero along with 1,400 rescue workers having died. It was not only the US who was affected that day, but the entire world changed. Everyone who was old enough to remember the attacks remember where they were when they found out. Freshman this academic year were born after the attacks, so it is important to help keep the memory of the event alive so we can continue to learn and grow from the tragedy.
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Four planes were hijacked, with two being flown into the North and South World Trade Center towers, which no longer stand. The site became known as Ground Zero, and there is now a memorial to those who lost their lives that day. A third plane flew into the pentagon, where there is a memorial. The fourth plane, suspected to be heading to Washington DC, crashed in Stony Creek Township about two hours south of Slippery Rock. The passengers and crew of Flight 93 fought back against the hijackers, knowing they would not survive. The memorial for Flight 93 is located in Stoystown, PA at the site of the crash.

Below are links to the websites for the memorials:

National 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero

National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

Flight 93 Memorial

“But what’s the point?” seems to be the lens through which we view most of life in the 21st century.  We don’t like to waste time, effort, or money if there is not a tangible product.  We live borderline utilitarian lives, asking ourselves “how does this serve me?” and quick to move on if the answer eludes us. 
 
The trouble is that most of life takes place in gray areas.  The places where we cannot hold an easy answer or result in our hands and say “look what I learned.”  The places where we have to be content to dwell in ambiguity and simply shrug our shoulders.  These gray areas are where the bulk of the humanities reside. 
 
We’ve gotten stuck in a pattern of defending the humanities by attempting to prove their relevance, function, and appeal.  In taking this stance, we fall into the same utilitarian mentality, trying to shove the humanities into a neat category by giving them a purpose. 
 
But perhaps the humanities are not a means to an end.  Perhaps they are an end in themselves.  Perhaps certain things are worth doing, worth studying, worth investing in, worth loving, simply because people exist who are passionate about those very things. 
 
In our society, we have built a hierarchy of value when it comes to work and education.  Education is a means to an end, a necessary launching pad to a career in which one becomes a contributing member of society.  But if education is only a means to an end, we have failed to recognize its intrinsic value, failed to honor that some things are simply worth knowing.
 
The real tragedy, then, is not the steady decline of the humanities, but the lost love of learning.  True learners seldom ask “what’s the point?” and instead, as Mary Oliver wrote, “say, ‘Look!,’ and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.” Maybe this is what our society has lost – a sense of wonder, astonishment, and delight in learning and leaning into what have not yet discovered. 
 
The humanities do not require a comprehensive list of their attributes, a complex philosophical argument, or even empirical proof of their benefits.  The humanities simply need passionate learners.  Justin Stover drives home this crucial point in his article “There is No Case for the Humanities:”
 
​    The humanities and the university do need defenders, and the way to defend the humanities is to      practice them. Vast expanses of humanistic inquiry are still in need of scholars and scholarship.        Whole fields remain untilled. We do not need to spend our time justifying our existence. All we          need to do is put our hand to the plow.

Still unconvinced?  Here are some cold, hard facts:
 
LinkedIn lists creativity, persuasion, collaboration, and adaptability as the most desirable soft skills in 2019.
 
Humanities students do just as well as, or outperform, traditional STEM majors on the MCAT, and for the Graduate Management Admissions Test, Humanities majors average a score of 40 points higher than Business majors.
- Humanities Indicators, 2011: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 
Over the course of their careers, humanities majors’ earnings equal or slightly exceed those of pre-professional and professional majors.
- Association of American Colleges & Universities
 
The top 10% of earners with history and philosophy backgrounds do better than those in computer sciences…Those in senior roles tend to have skills that are aligned with the arts.
- Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project

“When you’re falling in a forest and there’s nobody around, do you ever really crash or even make a sound?”

The touring cast of hit Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen” graced Pittsburgh audiences with their talent and profundity this May.  Despite the mistakes and misunderstandings made by the lonely and desperate protagonist, Evan Hansen, the assurance that serves as the musical’s theme, “you will be found,” is more potent than any misdirection.

Among the droves that filled Heinz Hall were nineteen students accompanied by three chaperones from Union High School.  The Humanities Ladder program enables students to attend and participate in cultural experiences, thus expanding their imaginations, knowledge, and introducing them to new passions.  The trip was funded by grants provided through Grable, PNC, and the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the Center’s Humanities Ladder Program. 
What might a musical matinee provide for young students?  For some in the group, this field trip was their first time in Pittsburgh.  The students got to be more than passive observers.  In the morning, they had a private tour of Heinz History Center where they learned how immigrants impacted the formation of Pittsburgh

Following lunch, they attended a pre-show talk with two members of the “Dear Evan Hansen” cast, including the actress who played the role of Zoe Murphy that afternoon.  The students had the opportunity to ask the cast members questions and learn about the behind-the-scenes process of putting on a musical and touring the country.  Most of the students in the group were thespians themselves and enthusiastic to hear the insights and experiences of professional actresses. 
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The performing arts provide a unique space for storytelling – a space in which audience and cast members alike find themselves represented and understood.  As such a powerful medium, it is truly a valuable thing to give young students opportunities to think about, question, and enjoy the arts.  

By: William Bergmann
 
“It’s about being able to read,” calls out one exasperated student, and others follow in punctuated style amid the whispers.

“It’s about reading comprehension….” “It’s about grades….”

Then, over the murmur, comes another answer: “It’s about being able to understand things after we graduate.”

This is a good moment, though certainly not one I had planned when I walked into Aliquippa Senior High School for the weekly Humanities Ladder session.

This isn’t even supposed to be the discussion, according to my neat lesson plan. Instead, the students are slated to discuss Michel Foucault’s theory of power. We have fallen behind and I have an ambitious lesson plan to catch up. The most recent sessions have gone well and I feel that my student mentor, Jordan Hare, and I have built a good rapport with the students. I am optimistic.
Then we arrive at class.

A small rebellion has taken root. It was the last day of the grading period and the most recent test has not gone well. A handful of students are arguing over their scores, others wander into the confusion and join the ranks of the dissatisfied. The energy escalates even as the bell rings, marking the start of class. Jordan and I look at each other and I mutter, “I don’t think this is going to go well today.” She agrees.

After some minutes, a curt instruction ends the overt protest and sends the students to their assigned seats so we can begin. This is not the seamless transition we experienced in past weeks. Chattering students find their spots, while others already in place shake their heads and exchange anxious looks

For the moment I am lost. I have no idea what to do. My entire lesson plan is shot. There is no way I am going to convince these students to dive into a discussion of power relations and the handout I had put together is a dead letter.

Not knowing where to go from here, I start where they are.

I ask them what the test was about. Students look dismissively out the windows, at their desks, or at each other. “Reading comprehension,” someone spouts.

A wash of relief spreads through me. With this starting point, I can lead them to Foucault’s relations of power.

I begin by following up: “What was the test really about?” I ask.

One irked female student offers a narrative overview of the test structure and nature of the questions.

I press them to use a wider lens. What was the test was really testing? What was it really about in the bigger picture?

Here’s where I began this post. The students are frustrated, but they are talking and starting to view reading comprehension not as task or test, but as a necessary skill.

Using their ideas, we start to talk about problems of going to court; that courts are hard to deal with and understand; how there are behavioral expectations there; that the bureaucratic system is difficult to understand and navigate; that the law is arcane. In all, I lead them down a path to see the courts as a set of specialized knowledge systems, and that those knowledge systems are expressions of institutional power. We briefly repeat the exercise looking at hospitals.

Now that they are looking at the problem using a lens of power, I bring them back to school. The previous week, we had talked about the school as having institutional power, but now we transition to consider schools as providing introductions to knowledge systems, training them to navigate the latticework of knowledge systems that will shape their lives. They settle into the idea of knowledge as power.

They begin to see that the test was not about the story they read, or the questions asked, or the grades they received. Their education is about being empowered to grapple with a court system, digest complexities of hospitals and insurance, to figure out their taxes.
I bring them back to Foucault

“Relations of power are not in a position of exteriority with respect to other types of relationships (economic processes, knowledge relationships, sexual relations), but are immanent in the latter; they are the immediate effects of the divisions, inequalities, and disequilibriums which occur in the latter….”

We spend the rest of the class working through these ideas.

As I look back, I’m fairly certain I didn’t convince them to disregard grades in favor of a sense of empowerment. But they did walk out of class thinking differently about tests, school, themselves, knowledge, and power.

In 1915, Harvard graduate and proclaimed “Father of Black History,” Dr. Carter G Woodson (1875-1950) travelled from Washington DC to Illinois for the 50th anniversary of emancipation to see an exhibition highlighting the progress and achievements of the African American community in those 50 years. Despite being held in the same location as the Republican National Convention three years prior, the event drew crowds of 6,000-12,000 people waiting to see the exhibits. The three-week celebration inspired Dr. Woodson to begin a scientific study of black life and history, including cataloguing the many achievements and contributions to society made by black individuals. In the following weeks, on September 9, 1915, he and his associates founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

Under this new association, Dr. Woodson and his colleagues worked tirelessly to publish the findings of black intellectuals, while urging black civic organizations to promote these achievements. In 1924, this work culminated in the creation of Negro History and Literature Week, later named Negro Achievement week, to take place during the week of February which contained the birthdays of Frederick Douglass (the 14th), whose birthday had been celebrated by the black community since the 1890s, and Abraham Lincoln (the 12th), whose birthday had been celebrated since his assassination.

Woodson’s vision for this celebration was precise in that he wanted to glorify the black community not as a community that created a few praiseworthy men, but as a great race worthy of praise in its own right. After all, even when contemplating the importance of Abraham Lincoln in ending slavery, it was not his actions that freed the slaves, but the Union Army and the hundreds of black soldiers and sailors within it. Rather than focusing on Douglass and Lincoln, Woodson knew their movement needed to focus on the countless number of black men and women who helped make human civilization what it is today. What he didn’t know was how powerful and well-received this celebration would be.

Celebrated in schools and in public, the movement was able to attach itself to the momentum of racial pride and consciousness in the post-WWI United States. In reaction to the celebrations there was massive movement on a local level, with small but numerous groups forming their own black history clubs, teachers demanding material to better educate their students, and progressive whites endorsing the efforts both within the academic community and the broader community at large. As the years went on, the celebrations grew and the association scrambled to meet the demand for educational materials, making pictures, lesson plans, posters, and plays for historical performances. Themes were established each year, and mayors across the country made major proclamations in support.

Over time, the scale of the success of the event became unmanageable, with novices speaking as experts and others looking to turn a profit. These struggles highlighted the most important point of the movement to Woodson: One week is not enough. Like many of our contemporaries, he felt that the study of black history was too important to cram into one single week. The study of black history, especially in the United States, is far too important to be an addendum.  While it was generations before the mainstream support of the idea, this sentiment sent the movement well on its way towards Black History  Month  before the end of the 1960s.

This year, the theme for Black History Month is “Black Migrations,” centering around the forced migrations and human trafficking of the African peoples. This theme is largely focused on the institutionalization of slavery in the United States, starting in 1619 with the arrival of the first slave ships to the colony of Virginia, and how the laws of the colony legally subordinated persons of African descent.

However, the focus is not entirely on slavery, but on “400 Years of Perseverance.” This emphasizes the diversity and constancy of the movement of African peoples, not solely forceful relocation to a life of slavery, but also escaping slavery to the northern or western US, emigrating to Africa, moving from rural to urban areas, moving from the Caribbean to the United States, and a litany of other geographical shifts. As with all of black history, the history of black migration is far more diverse, storied, interesting, and surprising than many of us in the US were ever taught.
For further enrichment on this ever-complex subject, please feel welcome to attend any of the SRU events listed below! The students and faculty who put so much of their time into these events would surely love to have you there!

For a more digital method of participation, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @StoneHouseCPH for various content throughout the month.
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​Each month, The Stone House Center for Public Humanities interviews a humanities scholar or community member and asks them everything from why they believe the humanities are important to what they're currently binge-watching. We hope that our blog series, Coffee & Questions, will inspire you, introduce you to a variety of people and fields, as well as create new conversations.

Our guest this month is Anna Potter, our new student worker.  A true small-town girl, Anna grew up in Grove City, and transferred to Slippery Rock last fall.  She is studying Creative Writing and is a passionate story-teller and community-seeker.  Before starting at Slippery Rock, she lived and worked in Amsterdam for a year, attended Grove City College for a semester, and worked as a barista at Grove City’s beloved Beans on Broad. 
 
What inspires you in your current position/role?
 I am a passionate person and I love working with passionate people, which is why this is such a wonderful job.  I especially appreciate CPH’s vision to bridge the gap between the university and the local community.  The humanities are abundant and life-giving, and I love that CPH provides opportunities for all to enjoy, learn, and start important conversations surrounding the humanities.  I look forward to both learning from and encouraging others.
 
Why do you believe that the humanities are important to everyone, and not just people in academia?
I think the humanities are a place of gray areas because they explore parts of life and existence that are not so easily categorized or explained.  They encourage us to grapple with the “big questions” and not be satisfied with easy answers.  They open our eyes to beauty. They challenge our black and white ideas.  They do not attempt to solve or solidify, but rather inspire awe for the mysteries of life.  Humanities are fundamental simply in that they are so very human – there is no one alive who can be sustained without some love or curiosity for the humanities.
 
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you (hobby, skill, interesting story)?
If I wasn’t so bad at science and math, I would probably be in the medical field.  I love medical things.  Gross, bizarre, puzzling medical stories?  I’d love to hear them.  Had I been gifted with better left-brain skills, I think I’d be a diagnostician.  But being a writer is pretty cool, too.
 
What shows are you currently binge-watching?
I am a serial re-watcher.  I could quote Parks & Recreation forward and backward.  Any episode.  Anytime.  Close seconds include: The Office, 30 Rock, New Girl, and Parenthood.
 
What's a book you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to?
 Anything by John Steinbeck. 
 
What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
I was driving in Cleveland with some friends and I stopped at a stop sign thinking it was a red light.  I don’t know how long I would have waited for the non-existent light to turn green, but thankfully the car behind me was quick to alert me of my absent-mindedness.