{"id":2877,"date":"2016-02-25T22:27:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T22:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/?p=2877"},"modified":"2016-02-28T22:44:13","modified_gmt":"2016-02-28T22:44:13","slug":"breaking-down-barriers-at-story-slam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/2016\/02\/25\/breaking-down-barriers-at-story-slam\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Down Barriers at Story Slam"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photos <\/a>
Block 5 Story Slam <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"StorySlam2\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"StorySlam\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/p>\n

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By Monica Black \u201919<\/p>\n

With chatter on campus about tough issues growing to a dull roar, a student-led forum for sharing stories allows individuals to share their experiences in a way that cuts through all the noise. At Story Slam, students and faculty tell their stories in front of a microphone in Sacred Grounds, where a crowd gathers to listen and support.<\/p>\n

Students, faculty members, and staff audition stories, then the directors of Story Slam, Lena Engelstein \u201916, Abby Portman \u201916, and Madi Howard \u201916, select their favorites and curate the show accordingly. Each block has a theme and the stories must fit, more or less, within that theme. Past examples include \u201cLost and Found\u201d and \u201cBorderline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m attached to the stories being on the theme,\u201d said Engelstein. \u201cBut we also look for a story with an arc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Portman added, \u201cI look for what you would come away with after the story.\u201d The stories, beyond these criteria, range hugely: some are funny, some are moving.<\/p>\n

Engelstein, Portman, and Howard started Story Slam during Block 3 as the continuation of a prototype version last academic year. The Slam is modeled after the popular storytelling radio show \u201cThe Moth,\u201d which is a recorded version of a live story slam.<\/p>\n

Listeners love \u201cThe Moth\u201d for its unique format, funny and moving stories, and celebrity appearances, but Story Slam emphasizes that this type of platform on a college campus has a particular role. \u201cPeople that you see around campus, but who you don\u2019t necessarily know, are telling really relatable stories,\u201d said Engelstein. \u201cYour image of that person changes [when you hear their story].\u201d<\/p>\n

One such example of breaking down those day-to-day barriers is when Kathy Giuffre, an associate professor and chair of the Sociology Department, told a love story at one Story Slam. \u201cShe was just as nervous as the students to tell her story,\u201d said Portman. \u201cShe was hugging everyone who was about to tell a story too, and there was this nervous excitement. She\u2019s just like another human who has a story. It\u2019s not really about her position at CC, or how distinguished she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Slam can also air difficult topics, right out of the mouths of those who experience them. \u201cWe had two stories last slam about sexual assault,\u201d said Portman. \u201cThere are lots of voices on campus talking about those issues through other media, but I thought it was really interesting that they could tell their own story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Story Slam happens the third Sunday of each block in Sacred Grounds, so for Block 6 you can catch Story Slam this Sunday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. The theme is \u201cStranger.\u201d Auditions are the first week of every block, and Block 7\u2019s theme is \u201cCrush.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      By Monica Black \u201919 With chatter on campus about tough issues growing to a dull roar, a student-led forum for sharing stories allows individuals to share their experiences in a way that cuts through all the noise. At Story Slam, students and faculty tell their stories in front of a microphone in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Breaking Down Barriers at Story Slam”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":648,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-around-campus","category-upcoming-events","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/648"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2877"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2891,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions\/2891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}