AIS 210W: Oral Traditions

Become a mindful listener at work. Listening is a critical skill that leaders and managers often take for granted. By learning to listen mindfully, you can keep your employees more engaged, foster the discovery of new ideas, and hear what you need to hear in a discussion rather than what you expect to hear. The book will teach you what great listeners do, how to stay fully present in challenging conversations, and how empathic listening can help others learn and grow. This volume includes the work of: Peter Bregman Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins How to be human at work. The HBR Emotional Intelligence Series features smart, essential reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work. Uplifting and practical, these books describe the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals to master.

In neighborhoods, schools, community centers, and workplaces, people are using oral history to capture and collect the kinds of stories that the history books and the media tend to overlook: stories of personal struggle and hope, of war and peace, of family and friends, of beliefs, traditions, and values--the stories of our lives. Catching Stories: A Practical Guide to Oral History is a clear and comprehensive introduction for those with little or no experience in planning or undertaking oral history projects. Opening with the key question, "Why do oral history?" the guide outlines the stages of a project from idea to final product--planning and research, the interviewing process, basic technical principles, and audio and video recording techniques. The guide covers interview transcribing, ethical and legal issues, archiving, funding sources, and sharing oral history with audiences. Intended for teachers, students, librarians, local historians, and volunteers as well as individuals, Catching Stories is the place to start for anyone who wants to document the memories and collect the stories of community or family.

Storytelling is an art as well as a skill. It allows the listener to take an idea and shape it into something that is relatable on a personal level. In The Art of Storytelling: Telling Truths through Telling Stories, Amy E. Spaulding enables the reader to learn how to develop this skill while also discovering the tradition of storytelling. She covers a wide array of key storytelling elements, from advice on choosing, learning, and presenting stories to discussions about the importance of storytelling through human history and its continued significance today. This book includes an annotated list of stories, along with a bibliography of collections and a brief list of recommendations for online sources. Designed for anyone who wants to develop the skill of telling stories, The Art of Storytelling is a unique resource for drama students, teachers, and librarians. Book jacket.