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May 06, 2008

Storytelling Class Trivialized?

In her blog Soulbride's Kitchen, Kamalla Rose Kaur tells of what sounds like a wonderful storytelling class at Western Washington University (where the class is a General Education Requirement) taught by Rosemary Vohs. Commenters to Kaur's blog affirm Vohs's exceptional teaching ability and credit her with significant influence on their lives ("She taught me virtually everything I know about storytelling, public speak[ing], and performing," writes Jacqueline Bartha of Jacksonville, FL.)

Kaur's main point in her posting is how she was derided when she told people she was taking the storytelling class. People assumed it was an easy and lightweight topic. In reality, storytelling was Kaur's hardest class. She wonders if storytelling is looked down upon "because anyone can tell a story...?"

Is it because professors are often horrible storytellers, while humble working class folk often excel at it? Is it a women’s discipline? Is it a childish subject? Or are other races better at storytelling than people of European descent?

Kaur peppers her posting with some great quotes about storytelling, which I've now posted in my Story Wisdom section.

She concludes, "The capacity to tell our tales is neither easy nor is it trivial." Referring to the tendency of the revilers to compare the class to basket-weaving, Kaur declares: "I dare you! Weave a basket that holds water and lasts longer than your puny little lifetime."

In a sad postscript to her blog posting, Kaur notes that because of budget cuts, Western Washington U. has cut Vohs' classes down to one and told her to vacate her office.

Posted by Katharine at May 6, 2008 11:17 AM

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