Conference Sessions

Session I

Storytelling that Builds Community

Shannon Carriger, Gardner Edgerton High School, JCCC

In Teaching To Transgress, bell hooks writes: “a classroom community...is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.” Hear and share stories that create community in your classroom.

The Role of Listening in Storytelling

Michael Humphrey, JCCC

Storytelling is embedded in our minds and culture as key to understanding the world and ourselves. Storylistening is also essential, but often overlooked and underdeveloped. We will talk about the how and why of storylistening, especially in the role of journalism.

Farmworker Poet: Lessons from the Fields

Miguel M. Morales, JCCC

People come to writing on different paths. As a child, I weeded rows of crops. I listened, learned, and watched. Today I tend rows of library books. I cultivate rows of poetry stanzas. I’ve mentored farmworker youth for over 20 years. Listen to what I’ve learned about farmworker storytelling.

Resistance through Writing: Counterstory Methodology as Critical Pedagogy

Heather N. Hill, Northwest Missouri State University

Counterstory is a powerful pedagogical tool that can be used by students to think critically about the power structures they live within and authentically resist those structure (when needed) through their writing. This presentation will explain Counterstory Methodology and show how it can be used in both high school and college writing classes.

Dare to be Creatively Unoriginal

Whitney Yi Knapp, University of Kansas

An essential lesson that young fiction writers must learn is that captivating and unique narratives are seldom wholly original. Using the processes and influences of Kazuo Ishiguro, this presentation argues that writers should be empowered to allow the creative productions they most admire to inform their work.

Once Upon This Time: The Role of Context in the Future of Stories

Ayah Abdul-Rauf, JCCC

Generative AI, attacks on attention span, and increases in censorship are daunting obstacles for storytellers, but hidden in students’ calls for “more context” are some surprising solutions: get tips on how to share films in the classroom, handling sensitive content, and contextualizing stories in a time of increased division.

The Past Becomes the Future: Serializing Literary Fiction and Self-Publishing in 2025

Peter Shull, Mill Valley High School

As a contemporary novelist with a rapidly growing audience on Substack, I will deliver a presentation about the new “Wild West” of publishing, where literary authors are bypassing gatekeepers and tastemakers to find their own audiences, publish their own fictions, and reap the satisfactions and material rewards of doing so.

Jane Austen and the Future of Storytelling

Maureen Fitzpatrick, JCCC

Jane Austen’s novels are the basis of an extensive transmedia storyworld of original narratives including romance, detective, and horror fiction. This session will apply critical narratology frameworks to analyze the trove of Austen-related work created by modern creators. Participants will discuss strategies to apply these tools to literary works from historical fiction to fantasy.

StoryMapping for Writing and Belonging

Susan Martens, Missouri Western State University

StoryMapJS is a free, open-source program that allows writers to combine text, mapping tools, media, and hyperlinks to create interactive maps. In this presentation, attendees will learn about different StoryMapJS applications for composition classes and community projects, then generate ideas for using StoryMaps in their own classrooms.

Storytelling for Your Peers: Student Journalism in the TikTok Era

Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hook, Aubrey May, Noelle Johnson, JCCC

Journalism stories are already very specific type, but that is even more true when you are telling stories for peers who “get their news on social media.” In this panel, we talk about the strategies we have tried to reach fellow JCCC students with the new digital publication, The Messenger. What worked, what didn't — we won't leave anything out of story either.

Session II

Storytelling and Civic Responsibility

Michael Price, JCCC

This talk will explore how storytelling is used in investigative documentaries to generate impact and engender a sense of civic responsibility and engagement on the part of the audience. Powerful storytelling in film can be used to overcome apathy and nudge our society in a better direction.

Storytelling in Narrative Medicine

Kayla Branstetter, Crowder College
Derek McCracken, Columbia University

A Narrative Medicine Lecturer from Columbia University and an English Instructor from Crowder College will present on how storytelling holds transformative potential in the realm of healthcare. This session will define narrative medicine while emphasizing the importance of writing and literature courses in fostering empathy, improving patient outcomes, and enhancing doctor-patient relationships.

Ūre Tunge: Linguistic Trauma and Vernacular Writing

Kayla Reese, Missouri State University

This paper explores vernacular anxiety through the historic relationship between Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Petrarch, examining how linguistic trauma and prescriptive elitism have shaped writing practices and limited the potential of students in the composition classroom.

Retelling Classic Stories

Barbara Brown, Kansas Wesleyan University

Retelling classic stories offers readers and writers invaluable insights into the enduring power of narrative. For readers, retellings provide fresh perspectives on familiar tales, inviting deeper understanding and appreciation of timeless themes.

Using Oral History Digital Archives in the Classroom: Storytelling in the Digital Age

Marta Caminero-Santangelo, University of Kansas

This paper explores the use of oral history digital archives in an online U.S. Latina/o/x literature course. Students analyzed real-life migration narratives alongside literature, deepening their understanding of themes like belonging and discrimination. This approach made stories tangible, fostering critical reflection and connecting literature to lived experiences in meaningful ways.

From Folktales to Films: The Enduring Legacy of Bengali Storytelling

Sayanti Ganguly Puckett, JCCC

Bengali storytelling spans oral, literary, and performative traditions, reflecting the region’s history, mythology, social values, and political consciousness. This presentation explores its evolution from folk narratives and jatra to Tagore’s literature and Satyajit Ray’s films. It highlights unique forms like patachitra and adda, showcasing storytelling’s role in the preservation of Bengal’s cultural identity.

Glowing up the Literacy Narrative: How Social Media Influencers Can Broaden Conversation in Writing Classrooms

Grace Johnson, Missouri State University

This presentation will consider how the narratives of social media influencers could shift literacy narratives from a tired story telling of “master narratives” to stories that can become openings— and not endings—for a student’s own evolving understanding of language and authenticity.

Teens Tell Their Stories: Empowering Voices Through Podcasting

Paula Watts, Kansas City Public Schools-Northeast High School

Podcasts are a method of oral storytelling delivered through a modern digital medium. Attendees will learn about how high school students in the Tech Club and Wrestling team from Northeast High School in Kansas City created a podcast. Session attendees will participate in creating a live episode of the podcast.

The Substance of Style: Anna Kornbluh’s Immediacy and Problems in Storytelling Now

Jency Wilson, Ottawa University

This project explores Anna Kornbluh's concept of “immediacy,” which describes the flattening of literature and film to the level of the literal, shaped by technology, social media, and late capitalism. The presentation will situate challenges in reading and critical thinking for general education English students in the context of “immediacy.”

Reinvented Stories for Multifaceted Characters: Teaching Jane Eyre through Graphic Novels

Ildi Olasz. Northwest Missouri State University

Studying Bronte’s Jane Eyre through McKenna’s graphic novel Jane, which is both a genre adaptation and a story adaptation, allows students to engage with a complex female character before transitioning to her 19th century version and it increases the students’ analytical competency by examining the characters on a spectrum.

Choose Your Adventure: Storytelling in Videogames

CJ Gibson, Elio Dixon-Phillips, Olivia McGillivray, Fort Hays State University

From Life is Strange to Minecraft, this presentation examines video games and the intersection of overt, covert, and personalizable storytelling and player agency, exploring the flexible conventions of the genre while offering assignment ideas aimed at enhancing creativity, critical thinking, and literary skills.

Belonging Through the Art of Storytelling: BuiIlding Community in the English Classroom

Lindsey Bartlett, Kevin Rabas, Emporia State University
Curtis Becker, Breanna Gellings, Washburn University

Four English faculty, two from Emporia State University and two from Washburn University, discuss the ways in which teachers can create a sense of belonging in the English classroom. Educators can use a variety of genres to build community and have students tell their stories, whether it is through poetry or creative nonfiction.

Session III

Story-Telling at the Homeless Resource Center, Lawrence, Kansas

Brian Daldorf, Perry Sheperd, University of Kansas, Homeless Resource Center

Teaching a Creative Writing class at the Homeless Resource Center in Lawrence, Kansas.

Rewriting the Narrative: Transforming Composition for Students Retaking First-Year Writing

Liticia (Tissa) Salter, Kansas Wesleyan University

What happens when students stop writing essays and start telling their stories? This session explores a transformative approach that engaged previously unsuccessful composition students through personal storytelling, AI-assisted revision, and rhetorical exploration—buiIlding confidence, competence, and a renewed sense of purpose in writing. Practical strategies and lessons learned will be shared.

“Sorry if you find this email creepy:” Community, Creative Writing, and Teaching Through Grief

Isabella Eslick, Missouri State University

After the loss of a friend, I found my relationship with my students was transformed when I discussed my grief with them. By analyzing the experiences of other teachers and creatively writing about my own experiences, I affirm that teacher grief should no longer be disenfranchised.

Multimedia Shakespearean Sonnets

Amanda Brewer, Darlena Ciraulo, University of Central Missouri

In this session, we propose ways to invite students to use art, podcasting, and video to interact with the sonnets. We will share examples of completed work and other possible ways to bring Shakespearean sonnets into the high school and college classroom.

Engaging Students with Shakespeare Through Creative Writing

Joseph Haughey, Northwest Missouri State University

This session provides teachers practical strategies in which students craft their own Shakespeare-inspired short stories. Based on close readings of the originals, they join the rich tradition of writers who have blended their own genius with Shakespeare's storytelling into adaptations. Lesson materials and exemplars will be provided.

Making Sense of Experiences: Finding the Story To Tell

Aisha Sharif, Metropolitan Community College

How do students find the story to tell? How will they know which experiences to select for their story, and how can we, as instructors, help them connect those experiences to start their writing process? In this workshop, participants will engage in an exercise that will help students piece together various experiences to see where the heart of their story lies!

Savoring Stories: Using Food Reviews to Teach the Art of Storytelling

Catherine Holthaus, Northwest Missouri State University

Food reviews are more than ratings—they are stories that connect taste, memory, and culture. This session explores how food writing can be used in the composition classroom to help students develop narrative strategies in persuasive and analytical writing. Participants will leave with classroom-ready materials and insights into using storytelling to deepen students' engagement with writing.

Narrative Across the Genres: Why Storytelling is Important in Any Class We Teach

Greg Luthi, Danny Alexander, Sam Bell, Bob Sykora, JCCC

In a world in which identity is becoming increasingly marginalized, the value of our narratives has never been greater. This panel session seeks to identify and explore the value of teaching narrative in the classroom, suggesting storytelling has never been more important or even necessary to student success.

Ekphrastic Prose as a Gateway to Creative Storytelling in the College Classroom

Terry Held, Crowder College

Discover how ekphrastic prose—descriptive writing inspired by visual art—can be employed in college classrooms to teach creative storytelling. This presentation illustrates how visual literacy and classical ekphrastic techniques unlock students' storytelling imagination, offering a spectrum of learning opportunities to enhance their prose style and narrative skills.

Using Art to Explore Social Narratives About Diversity

Nathan Jones, JCCC

I share assignment materials and examples of how students have applied Pierre Bourdieu’s critical narrative framework in their analysis of art. This presentation explores how, in college writing courses, art can be used to present, study, understand, and (if necessary) resist social narratives.

Beyond the Quest: Teaching Archetypes in the Real World

Megan Caughron, Rockhurst High School

Every student has read Tragedy (Oedipus Rex, Macbeth, The Great Gatsby) and Quest (The Odyssey, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings). This presentation argues why students should also know the archetype of Comedy— stories about achieving happy endings—-and of the Accidental Journey—stories about facing situations we did not intend or want.

The Paradox of Gender in a Cosmological Atmosphere of Violence: A Comparative Study of Macbeth & Winter’s Bone

Leslie D. Muench, Missouri State University

There is an unlikely connection across centuries between Shakespeare’s Jacobethan Era Macbeth and Daniel Woodrell’s 2006 novel, Winter’s Bone. This reading of the two stories reveals a shared cosmology that permits patriarchy and violence to play out but conclude in two different ways.