AKO Storytelling Institute, UAL

 

Storytelling Fellowship Storyteller

Challenge: Tell the stories of a cohort of practitioners undertaking a new fellowship in storytelling for social change at University of the Arts London’s AKO Storytelling Institute while evaluating the success of the fellowship’s curriculum.

Working pattern:
Part-time over one year, including frequent in-person work in London.

Who we’re looking for:
Someone fascinated by how storytelling can drive social change, and with a strong interest in evaluation.

Start date:
Story Associates will join the scheme in early September. They will start by taking part in a Deep Story Training Camp and will then move on to their Host projects and placements.

How:
You could approach this as an exploration of how Story Skills can help to evaluate and communicate a programme and its impacts. You could also think about it as an experiment in meta-storytelling: telling stories about telling stories!

Award:
£37,099, pro rata, point 30 on National Spinal Point, or equivalent value fellowship grant (paid on supplier contract basis).


The scene is set…

In September 2023, ten expert, professional storytellers will gather in UAL’s AKO Storytelling Institute, ready to embark on an innovative mission. They will be the first recipients of a new fellowship designed to equip storytellers to drive social impact.

In this inaugural year, the fellowship’s focus will be on the theme of Truth and Lies. The ten talented fellows will design and deploy storytelling approaches to examine, unearth and expose crucial contemporary issues on this theme including, potentially, fake news, deep fakes and the post-truth climate. Their experiments will include storytelling in media as varied as theatre, immersive art, documentary and gaming.

A hero is summoned…

The AKO Storytelling Institute has asked us to send a hero who can accompany these ten experts on their journey. The hero’s task will be to observe, record and evaluate the impacts and successes of the fellowship. They will document the emergent methodologies used by fellows to give storytelling substantial societal and environmental impact, and assess whether the fellowship is transforming fellows into better storytellers for change. This crucial, critical observation will assist the Storytelling Institute in understanding how the fellowship is working as well as communicating its impacts to a wider audience.

An adventure gets underway…

This hero will undertake the vital evaluative work that is needed to understand and secure the success of the AKO Storytelling Institute’s new fellowship scheme. They will document and disseminate the fellows’ storytelling endeavours and pay close attention to how the fellowship’s curriculum is accepted, adapted and rejected by different fellows. The hero will produce a story about the process of training for impactful storytelling. This story of stories will guide the fellowship’s evolution after its inaugural year. How the hero tells this story is up to them. They may develop a regular blog or use their own media specialism, such as video, audio, interactive, social media or writing, to generate a summative creative output.

The hero will emerge with a rich understanding of storytelling and its utility for driving social change as well as with refined storytelling skills of their own. They will work closely with Emmy award-winning Immersive/Interactive Director Francesca Panetta as well as a team of evaluation advisors, becoming part of an innovative, multidisciplinary and highly skilled community of storytelling professionals.

This adventure will contribute to the StoryArcs mission to explore the value and uses of Story Skills in life, learning and work. The findings brought back to StoryArcs HQ will be crucial in our development and co-creation of a Story Skill Set.

This is one of eleven projects. You can find out more about the Story Associate opportunity and explore all eleven opportunities.

 


Application Portal is now closed.

If you were unable to submit your application due to technical difficulties, personal reasons or other factors please contact us at story@bathspa.ac.uk.

Read the AKO Storytelling Institute, UAL Role Description

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