Mary Hess

George Saunders on story

Redglass Pictures is a studio that is focused on creating short, compelling films. This is one in which novelist George Saunders talks about what’s involved in creating a story — and how it brings us to truth. George Saunders: On Story from Redglass Pictures on Vimeo.

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New work in media education

Three new resources that I find particularly powerful in media education are the following: the 2017 issue focused on “Agency” of the Journal of Media Literacy (available for free) Sonja Vivienne’s book, Digital Identity and Everyday Activism: Sharing Private Stories with Networked Publics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) Henry Jenkins’ book, By Any Media Necessary: the New Activism

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Historyapolis

While it is not a digital storytelling site, per se, the Historyapolis site in Minneapolis combines photographs from various archives with blog posts offering more information about the stories from the photos. It’s a really interesting and innovative use of historical documents woven into a set of stories for the purposes of creating engagement with

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Remembering the Holocaust

As we pray and remember this Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is worth noting the “power of individual stories.” Javier Torres writes: It was that Sunday morning I truly understood that part of our mandate is to preserve and share stories like Judy’s. Through her story, and the stories of many others found here in the

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Healing America’s spiritual pain

That’s the substance of a profound essay by Serene Jones appearing at Time.com. Her prescription for healing America’s spiritual pain? “We need a new common narrative about who we are as a country.” I won’t quote the whole essay — please read it! — but here’s an excerpt: As Americans, we have a “theological” national story we tell

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