jews d
in
the
The Power
Of Story
SAWYER ALTMAN
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
A group dinner in Philadelphia during the 2016 trip
Unique Travel Opportunity
EMU Center for Jewish Studies plans group trip
to better understand the American Jewish story.
T
he Jewish experience in the
Faculty Award for Outstanding
United States has been marked Teaching and the EMU Alumni
by success and struggle, com-
Association Teaching Excellence
placency and worry, acceptance and
Award. Bernstein is a professor of
“otherness.” It is a journey
political science and has
similar to other immigrant
been awarded the Alumni
groups and, yet, somehow
Association Teaching
different. For a group that has
Excellence Award, the
to a large extent “made it” in
Honors College Faculty
America, why do Jews so often
of the Year Award and
think, and behave, as if they
the Fennel Award for
are guests in someone else’s
Outstanding Mentorship.
Marty Shichtman
home, as if the security they
Both Shichtman and
fought so hard to win is con-
Bernstein have extensive
stantly endangered?
experience running travel
The Center for Jewish
courses.
Studies at Eastern Michigan
The trip also includes
University is offering a group
time with movers and shak-
trip this spring, May 3-9,
ers in the American Jewish
led by EMU faculty mem-
community, including a
bers Dr. Marty Shichtman
session at the Folksbein
and Dr. Jeff Bernstein, in
Yiddish Theatre in lower
Jeff Bernstein
which these questions will
Manhattan, where par-
be explored. Travelers will
ticipants will hear firsthand
visit quintessential Jewish sites
about the renaissance of the Yiddish
in New York (Tenement Museum,
language and Yiddish theater in New
the Eldridge Street Synagogue, the
York, and Jewish community and
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island),
political leaders to consider issues
Philadelphia (National Museum
such as social justice, American-
of American Jewish History) and
Israel relations and the fight against
Washington, D.C. (U.S. Holocaust
anti-Semitism.
Memorial Museum). Seeing these
There will also be time for fun,
sites will help participants better
including some evening excursions,
understand their roles in the compli- as well as the (in)famous night of
cated American Jewish story.
Bedtime Stories. There will be a visit
The group will also enjoy daily
to Zabars, group dinners in New
lectures and discussions led
York and Philadelphia, and a chance
by Shichtman and Bernstein.
to attend an alumni reception in
Shichtman directs the Center for
Washington to meet with some of
Jewish Studies at EMU and is also a
EMU’s outstanding alums. You’ll
professor of English literature. He is
learn a lot on this trip — and you’ll
a recipient of EMU’s Distinguished
laugh a lot.
22
December 21 • 2017
jn
Mary Schuman, who participated
on a previous trip in 2016, said it was
a “wonderful experience. I enjoyed
the places we visited, learned a lot
from Marty and Jeff, and had fun
with a great group of people.”
Linda Levy, who also was on that
trip, noted that while many people
on the trip had visited some of these
places before, “the depth of under-
standing and enjoyment we had as a
group was truly amazing.”
Bernstein adds, “I have run this
trip for student groups, but the
diverse perspectives each of the
‘grown-ups’ brought to our journey
made it especially meaningful. I
have fond memories of our first trip
and cannot wait to do it again.”
The trip begins the morning of
Thursday, May 3, in New York, and
ends on Wednesday afternoon,
May 9, in Washington. Airfare to
and from Detroit can be purchased
with the group for an additional fee.
First-class hotel accommodations,
door-to-door bus transportation, all
venue admissions and some meals
are provided. The trip costs $2,599
(double-occupancy).
More information is available
at www.emich.edu/jewishstudies/
courseflyer.pcf.pdf. Feel free to
contact Bernsein (jeffrey.
bernstein@emich.edu) or
Shichtman (jewish.studies@
emich.edu) with any questions.
The center is working with Sherri
Sitkauskas of Conlin Travel, who
can be reached at (734) 822-1046
for information on travel-related
issues or to book your travel. •
t all started one summer evening while I
was wandering around Stanford campus.
At the student union, just to the side of the
Starbucks entrance, was a banner that I had
always clearly ignored. This time, without the
everyday rush, it got my attention. It had the
smiling faces of children and read something
like, “Got any technical, editorial or creative
skills?” Yes. “Know Photoshop,
Illustrator and how to tell a
story?” Yes, yes … kind of?
“Email ____.”
So I did. I was the only one to
respond. The banner had been
up there all school year!
At the other end was Dr. Paul
Kim at the school of education,
who researches mobile learning
Sawyer Altman
technologies and deploys them
in hard-to-reach rural com-
munities around the world. We connected and
became excited about designing a program that
could collect some of the beautiful stories regu-
larly told in many of the sites he visits.
Before long, I was using the training I received
at the design school and my insights from time
spent working at the graduate school of business
under Jennifer Aaker, who teaches The Power of
Story, to create a robust storytelling workshop
that could plug into children’s potential to be
original storytellers. I was thrilled to deploy
it — the voices of the underserved go too often
unheard, so what better way to help empower a
community than to listen?
Paul first connected me to rural eastern South
Africa, the province Mpumalanga, and there I
realized there was also more to the picture. In
South Africa, I encountered a disciplinarian style
of teaching rooted in rote memorization and
didactic lecturing. Many kids were motivated by
the fear of actual physical punishment, the class-
room setting was boring, and students weren’t
taking the stream of facts and figures to heart. I
began to see my workshops as an interruption to
that style.
After graduating this past June, I flipflopped
a bit. It was only at the end of the summer, after
spending months working on an app that felt
obligatory at first but truly didn’t excite me so
much, I took a 180. I realized I had been doing
what I’d been wanting to all along. I decided to
jump into storytelling full-time.
Now I’m calling for everyone’s help. My goal is
to fund these workshops on a sustainable cycle,
through cultural exchange. Readers who want to
bring these magnificent stories into their homes
can now support workshops and receive the
storybooks they make possible. In doing so, they
celebrate youth authorship and support a world of
inspiring learning.
To help, logon to https://tinyurl.com/ya59l6rp. •
Sawyer Altman is a former student of Frankel Jewish
Academy.