One of my new heroes is Barbara Ganley, who blogs at (The New) BG Blogging. I find her fascinating because of her work with story in higher education and in community storytelling. She recently left the former to focus on the latter:

Barbara Ganley recently left higher education to set up the nonprofit, Digital Explorations, dedicated to helping rural towns in the United States explore the impact of social media on physical community, through the creation of downtown Centers for Community Digital Exploration.

Her blog is also beautifully illustrated with photos.

Barbara posted a particularly rich blog entry last September, in essence her syllabus for a workshop she co-taught (with Joe Antonioli) at Middlebury College on capturing the stories of a small country town. The entry includes a vast list of storytelling resources.

But in December Barbara lamented that she does not see enough storytelling that does what she believes it should do:

We go on and on about the power of storytelling, its role in human culture, but how are we using the telling, the sharing and the art itself within classrooms and communities? As a classroom teacher and now in my work in rural communities, only rarely do I see sustained, connected use of both stories and storytelling to build healthy bonds and bridges, to synthesize thought and experience, or to imagine a better future. Certainly not in higher ed. Not in community work either. At least not enough.

She cites “a simple storytelling exercise” that has had this positive effect when she’s used it in workshops:

Participants feel closer to one another, trust builds, and differences are honored. People laugh. But it is a tender, fragile trust, one that can easily fade out once the “workshop” or the course ends.

That trust, therefore, needs to be part of a sustained storytelling practice, Barbara writes:

When this storytelling extends, however, through sustained practice, and stories are caught here, commented on, revised, and extended on blogs, on wikis, on sites … where they become threads woven together of a complex story, the moment of person-to-person connection has the potential to deepen, to open up through contact with other stories, and to move others - if the story is told well. Hence the need for practice, for developing a practice where storytelling is used.

She goes on to cite three examples of blogs that represent this kind of sustained practice and “wrap the tendrils of story around whomever happens upon them and takes the time to read.”

My only complaint? I can’t see a way to get in touch with Barbara other than to leave a comment on her blog. I’d love to invite her to do a Q&A.