Politics and Archaeology student-staff-community Fieldtrip and Storytelling Workshop in Whitechapel

An interactive workshop on story telling for community engagement and social impact, participatory action research and project evaluation, focused on the Silk District site in Whitechapel.

The funding covered the costs of a professional Storyteller trainer and facilitator who led a workshop on Storytelling as a methodology for amplifying marginalised knowledge and facilitating co-production. Staff and students from Politics, the Institute of Archaeology, the Institute for the Americas, and SSEES interacted with archaeologists and specialists from Archaeology South-East with experience in uncovering Whitechapel’s heritage. 

The workshop allowed participants to learn about storytelling techniques and posed questions on how to develop a curriculum case study: storytelling as a tool for social change and memorialisation of complex or difficult stories as a therapeutic space. As well as practising storytelling, and removing barriers between staff, students, community staff and activists. 

“The biggest revelation (for me) that came from the workshop was how storytelling techniques/activities could create community, connection, and a safe space very quickly and in an authentic way. We feel there is also a skills and confidence piece here for students to support our students to confidently be able to talk about self and identity from a race perspective (if they so wish).” Workshop attendee

The data generated will inform an evaluation framework, and methods and think about ‘theories of change’.