MPA Students Tell Stories for Social Impact in Summer Elective Course

The MPA Program's summer elective course in storytelling culminated with a public speaking event aimed at raising awareness about important social problems.

Ten MPA students delivered their original stories while standing outside on the steps of a concrete fountain in the City College quad on a warm afternoon.

The stories addressed a range of issues, including women’s right to choose, affordable housing, immigration, homelessness, poverty, criminal injustice, public education, and access to health care.

The students wrote the stories as part of their final assignment for the course, The Art of the Impactful Story. The objective was to use the power of storytelling in a “soap-box presentation” to rally the public around an issue.

Storytelling is in high demand as an effective tool for public relations, fundraising, and leadership, especially in nonprofit organizations and social enterprises.

The elective course taught how to plan, write, and deliver a story both orally and in writing. It highlighted techniques such as the narrative of the hero’s journey. One group assignment involved drafting a series of communications for a nonprofit organization working on an issue of the students’ interest.

The professor, Jheri Hardaway, also known as Ms. Jheri Worldwide, is author of two books of stories based on her global travels. She has taught at both the secondary and university level, and she is founder of the education project MJWW Ventures, an education company creating outside-the-box approaches to teaching and learning.

MPA students tell stories for social impact


 

 

 

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