BU partners with UK university for Storytelling workshop

By Amisha Piplani

Bennett University (BU) in collaboration with UK-based Loughborough University has organised a five-part online series of Digital Storytelling workshop for the Times School of Media students. The first session of the Digital Storytelling workshop was held on November 4.The objective of the workshop is to educate Bennett students on the art of digital storytelling and the role of technology in enhancing the experience of storytelling.
While thanking Loughborough University for their association with Bennett University’s Times School of Media (TSOM), Professor Sunil Saxena, Head of Department, TSOM stressed on the need for digital storytelling in the present times. “Everyone can now create, publish and distribute content on the internet, so it’s important to know how to tell a story well.”

Prof. Michael Wilson, Director, Storytelling Academy, and head of Creative Arts, Loughborough University likened digital storytelling to a Swiss knife. “Digital storytelling like a Swiss knife has many functions. It is an art that brings people together.”

Taking the session forward, Dr Antonia Liguori, senior lecturer, Loughborough University, UK, talked about what inspired her to be a storyteller and what factors she considered to be important to be a good storyteller. “Storytelling starts with listening. Most people have a misconception that storytelling only requires good speaking skills. But to be a good journalist, you need to listen to people’s points of view first.”

“The best part about Digital storytelling is that it's very contradictory- you might think that because it's digital and has technological elements, it would make the process faster, but that's where you’re wrong, in fact, it makes it slower. That’s the beauty of it, you start putting emphasis on every little detail of the whole process,” she added.

She then proceeded to ask BU students about what storytelling meant to them. “Storytelling, for me, is the essence of being a human, and listening is an important tool in it too. As we are social animals getting reactions after we narrate incidents makes us feel confident and we crave that validation,” explained Amisha Piplani, 3rd-year BAJMC student at BU.

After the interactive session, Dr Liguori showcased two Digital Storytelling projects of students from Loughborough University. The hour-long session came to an end with Dr Liguori asking students to bring an object that was a key in bringing them closer to their dream of becoming a journalist.

Prof. Wilson joined Loughborough University, in 2014 as a professor of drama and then continued to become the Dean of Arts, English, and Drama. Dr Liguori has been using digital storytelling as a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary research.
(The writer is a Sem 3 students of BAJMC course)
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