The Center for Education and Lifelong Learning (CELLL) of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) welcomes you to “Narrative Crossings in Education,” a 42-hour online LLL program to be offered via ZOOM or BigBlueButton (elearning) platforms.

The program is organized by the Laboratory of Narrative Research (LNR) of the School of English Language and Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh).

For information about LNR, see: http://www.enl.auth.gr/lnr/

The Director of the Program is Dr. Effie Yiannopoulou, Assistant Professor, School of English Language and Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh).

Dr. Effie Yiannopoulou teaches English and Anglophone literature and cultural theory at the School of English at Aristotle University, Greece. She has an interest in twentieth-century women’s writings, Black-British and British-Asian literature, postcolonial and cultural theory. She is especially interested in questions of mobility (including migration), embodiment, race, national identity and community-building especially in relation to gender structures. She has published her work in journals and collections of essays in these fields and has co-edited Metaphoricity and the Politics of Mobility (Rodopi Editions, 2006), The Flesh Made Text Made Flesh (Peter Lang, 2007) and The Future of Flesh: a Cultural Survey of the Body (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). She is currently Director of the Laboratory of Narrative Research (www.enl.auth.gr/lnr) which is based at the School of English at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and has co-ordinated its academic activities and events for the past three years. She was Head of the Department of English Literature and Culture at the School of English (AUTh) for two years (2017-2019), Co-director of the postgraduate MA program in “English and American Studies” (2015-2016) and has been on numerous exam boards and School committees over the years. For a fuller CV see http://www.enl.auth.gr/staff/yiannopoulou.htm.

Research Interests:  twentieth-century women’s writings, Black-British and British-Asian literature, postcolonial and cultural theory.

 

Objectives

The program provides participants with in-depth and practical knowledge about the multiple uses of narratives in a learning environment. The varied qualities of narrative will be examined as forms of personal, social and communication discourse. We will examine the important contribution of narration to socio-cultural relations and its pivotal role in the learning process. The sections/subsections of this program will improve the ways participants plan and implement teaching practices/interventions while strengthening their creativity and critical thinking.

The sections/subsections offer participants a (re)consideration of narrative by introducing its more practical/applied uses and stressing narrative’s manifestation in discourse/communication and learning. More specifically, the program is structured around the following axes:

• knowledge about how literary and non-literary narratives affect human perception
• occasions to explore how storytelling can promote self-cognition and self-realization
• a (re)examination of genre and subgenre categories
• connecting narration with good teaching practices
• effective class management skills towards establishing a productive classroom atmosphere
• the art of expressing oneself in different forms of narrative
• the use of topics that encourage learning.

Participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance in English and/or Greek upon request (see below Certificate).

For more information about the separate sections/subsections of the program and schedule, see: http://www.new.enl.auth.gr/lnr/narrative-crossings-in-education/

 

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the program, participants will:

• identify the possibilities of multi-layered narratives
• be familiar with ways of utilizing storytelling in educational contexts
• be able to design educational interventions based on narratives of real-life experience
• have approached narrative theory via participant-driven workshops
• have considered the contribution of aesthetic/narrating experience to learning
• have enriched critical thinking with creative activities

 

Participant selection & Requirements

The program is of interest to:

• graduates of institutions of Higher Education in Greece and abroad
• graduates of private tertiary-education institutions
• researchers interested in storytelling and narrative
• Primary- and Secondary-Education teachers
• the general public that has an interest in storytelling and creative writing

Special emphasis is given to Humanities-related topics and narrative theories. The program aims at enriching the theoretical knowledge participants have received during their studies and/or educational hands-on experience with creative learning interventions.

Selection criteria are based on a combination of the applicant’s:

• Curriculum vitae or biographical note
• Statement of Intent (150 words). Please explain why you are applying to this program and how your experience (academic, work, etc.) has prepared you to enter this program.
• Knowledge of English (B2 level)

Please note that a limited number of participants are accepted to the program. Registrations will be handled on a first come, first served basis!

 

Teaching Method

Real-time (synchronous) online instruction.

 

Educational Material

The program provides participants with:

1. PDF articles (pre- and post-reading material)
2. Slides from in-class presentations
3. List of sources for further research

 

Course Description

2 ECTS credited

Please note that no ECTS will be credited to participants who have attended online classes without submitting assignments. In this case, participants will be provided with a Certificate of Attendance with no ECTS credited.

Duration: 42 hours of online teaching and 22 hours of workload.

Start date: 10/04/2021

End of the program: 05/06/2021

 

Title & Description of Program Section	Title & Description of Program Subsections/Modules	Hours/Dates	Instructors
1.Narratives of Being-in-the-World: Learning Interims Description This section offers critical thinking/theoretical approaches and good teaching practices of how knowledge can become/transform into a tool for our re-visioning of the world. Participants’ varied backgrounds (cultural, familial, religious and others) turn into valuable and variable narratives for negotiation, intercession and communication.	Conviviality in Education: Interludes for Self-Improvement Description What is conviviality? What do we mean by ‘convivial’ tools? What is a convivial interlude in a learning environment? This subsection/module draws from Ivan Illich’s philosophy of education and recasts the classroom as a liminal space where one can use the (in)validity of knowledge (facts, information, and skills) to attain self-improvement and write narratives of self-cognition.	6 hours 10 April 2021 11:00-14:00 and 11 April 11:00-14:00	Emmanouilidou Sophia
2.Narratives of ‘Glocal’ Change Description ‘Glocalization’ signals communication and/or integration whereby local knowledge informs universal intelligence/concern and vice versa. This section explores how the ‘glocal’ approach recognizes some of our common cultural/social/environmental values as citizens of a global village. Participants will analyze and produce narratives which accept difference and diversity.	Immigrant Narratives and the Multicultural Classroom Description Stepping on George Lakoff’s discussions on the political mind, this module focuses on the diversity of the contemporary Greek school and the many challenges it faces.  Examining a range of narratives (literary, musical, filmic etc.)  we will introduce participants to basic notions of ethnic studies like identity and self- ascription, marginalization and inclusion, silencing and voicing Otherness. Through good teaching practices teachers of the multicultural classroom will receive useful tools to inspire cultural sensitivity, tolerance and empathy among their students.	6 hours 17 April 2021 11:00-14:00 and 18 April 2021 11:00-14:00	Patrona Theodora
	Testimonios: From Narratives of ‘I’ to Communal Identification Description George Yúdice claims that testimonial writing is told by a speaking voice, ‘moved to narrate by the urgency of a situation.’ This module introduces participants to the strategies of testimonio writing by addressing/recording/representing some of the crises we face in life. Our aims are two-fold: Consciousness-raising and the possibilities of the (in)orderly transition from the individual perspective to a communal sense of being	6 hours 8 May 2021 11:00-14:00 and 9 May 2021 11:00-14:00	Emmanouilidou Sophia
3.Sound Narratives and Digital Storytelling Description What are digital stories? Can we convey emotions and/or share thoughts via media production techniques?  Do sounds compile a meaningful sequence of events? This section looks into the narrative structures that sounds and multi-modal media create. Our focus is on how storytelling can switch from the written medium to sonic and digital expressions/means of communication. The three modules of this section offer numerous examples of good practice in a learning environment	Digital Storytelling and the Arts Description New forms of storytelling have emerged since the arts took a digital turn. Both narratives native to the digital environment and narratives adopted by it increasingly manifest in multi/transmedia configurations involving diverse art forms. Participants will explore how emerging kinds, formats, and strategies of storytelling that draw on the arts change the way narratives are born and develop, as well as how narrative creation and distribution now influence our technoculture.	6 hours 15 May 2021 11:00-14:00 and 16 May 2021 11:00-14:00	Delikonstantinidou Aikaterini
	Podcast Narratives in Class Description In the last few years (and especially since 2014), podcasts have been gaining considerable momentum across much of the English-speaking world. Audio-based storytelling—in decline for many years—seems now at a spin-off moment with more factual and non-factual podcasts being created, feeding on wide audiences to whom podcasters promise (and deliver) compelling “movies for [their] ears”. This module seeks a) to familiarize participants with the working logic, aesthetics and idiosyncrasies of the podcast medium, and b) to explore and experiment with possible ways for their effective use in the learning environment as a valuable tool for multisensory learning.	6 hours 22 May 2021 11:00-14:00 and 23 May 2021 11:00-14:00	Ristani Maria
	Performing (in) the Digital Description Digital performances take place in sites as different as digital theatre, computer games, and Instagram stories. The cross-pollination of digital technologies, performing arts, and practices of performing life online informs conversations about the sociocultural implications of digital performances. Participants will investigate the aesthetics and politics of the latter, as well as the emerging needs and concerns they reflect on.	6 hours 29 May 2021 11:00-14:00 and 30 May 2021 11:00-14:00	Delikonstantinidou Aikaterini
4.Of Convivial Interludes and Lasting Reflections Description Participants will demonstrate in the form of in-class presentations the degree to which they have achieved the aims and objectives of the course. This section includes question-and-answer (Q&A) sessions during which participants will reflect on the theoretical/practical knowledge they have gained.	Class Presentations and Assembly Interactions Description Participants will present their individual work/creative writing. The aim of this module is to integrate theoretical and practical knowledge acquired in the course and to create channels of communication. Final assessment includes the submission of portfolios comprising participants’ responses to separate modules. Participants will be scheduled for an online tutorial with the instructors during which the course’s objectives will be further discussed and the learning outcomes evaluated for future use in a learning environment. Feedback will be offered on the participants’ creative/reflective submissions.	6  hours 5 June 2021 10:00- 16:00	Emmanouilidou Sophia   Ristani Maria   Patrona Thedora   Delikonstantinidou Aikaterini

Program instructors

 

Evaluation/Certificate

Participants will be evaluated according to their:

• In-class participation: 30%
• Analysis of selected study material (four follow-up reflections): 40%
• One in-class joint presentation: 30%

Upon completion of the program, participants will be awarded a Certificate of Attendance with 2 ECTS credited. The Certificate of Attendance is issued by the Center for Education and Lifelong Learning (LLL) of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and signed by the coordinator of the program.

For the successful completion of the program, the participants should:

1. A) have attended all the teaching units. Absences may not exceed 10% of the scheduled training hours.
2. B) have paid all the participation fees by 07/04/2021.

 

Participation fees

150€/standard

Participants will be informed via email of the bank account number.

 

Application

Candidates submit the application form online here.

Applications are submitted online from 03/02/2021 to 07/04/2021.

Each application has to be accompanied by the following:

1. Curriculum vitae or biographical note
2. Statement of Intent (150 words). Please explain why you are applying to this program and how your experience (academic, work, etc.) has prepared you to enter this program.
3. Knowledge of English (B2 level)