NOTE: Please attend the first class meeting to receive an authorization code for this course.
Class will be conducted entirely in English; all majors across the university, international and exchange students are welcome.

Course Description:
In recent years, digital storytelling has emerged as a new and influential media form among educators, artists, and social activists. One might broadly define digital storytelling as a multimodal form of composition, usually taking shape as short videos that narrate and document lived experience. This course will assist students in creating a polished piece of digital storytelling that incorporates first-person narration, interviews with subjects, still images and archival documents, and soundtrack or ambient sound, among other elements. This will allow for reflective self-awareness and creative self-expression by engaging complex societal and cultural issues.

After an theoretical module on storytelling methods applied to literary, cultural, and multimodal texts, the course will then enter the creative phase of storytelling development, production, and dissemination:

A. Development: In this phase, the course focuses on narrative and storytelling techniques. Students will brainstorm story ideas, experiment with different narrative methods, and develop storylines and storyboards.
B. Production: Students will implement their narratives into digital content, and engage in the filming, recording, and editing process with weekly discussion and peer critique.
C. Dissemination: With the successful production of digital content, students think about how best to propagate their message online to reach a wider audience, and to make a social impact.

Weekly meetings emphasizing peer critique and instructor feedback will be required to sharpen and fine-tune students’ narrative techniques, with the objective of producing a professional, finished piece of digital storytelling. Technical support will be provided by the MOE Teaching Practice Research Program grant.