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Storytelling Fellows

What is a digital story?

Digital stories combine the art of storytelling with media formats familiar in the online world, including images, video, and audio. While most storytellers focus on a particular topic of their choosing, we ask you to highlight your own personal journey as a researcher. You are free to select any particular point of view that pleases you, but we ask that your digital stories explore new ideas or surprising traits you learned about yourself through the research process.

The Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling

Storycenter, formerly known as the Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS), developed a useful starting point for creating digital stories called the Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling.

  1. Point of View – What is the main point of the story and what is the perspective of the author?
  2. A Dramatic Question – A key question that keeps the viewer’s attention and will be answered by the end of the story.
  3. Emotional Content – Serious issues that come alive in a personal and powerful way and connects the audience to the story.
  4. The Gift of Your Voice – A way to personalize the story to help the audience understand the context.
  5. The Power of the Soundtrack – Music or other sounds that support and embellish the story.
  6. Economy – Using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer.
  7. Pacing – The rhythm of the story and how slowly or quickly it progresses.

 

Counternarratives

When we talk about storytelling, we understand it consists of long traditions of storytellers ignoring, supplanting, and erasing the experiences and narratives of others. Because so much of the history of storytelling is defined by the stories that aren’t told or respected, it’s important to be aware of concepts like counter-storytelling and counter-narratives, which are rooted in Critical Race Theory and critical qualitative research methods. With a counter-narrative, the storyteller isn’t just engaging with an audience. They examine oppressions and question authorities.

  • Are you curious about counter-narratives?
  • Is your research in some way connected to counter-narratives?
  • Do you think the story you want to tell is a counter=narrative?

For definitions of counter-narratives–as well as some examples of it in academic work–please check out these links:

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