The Jefferson County Public Schools Storytelling Project is a community outreach program that involves UofL English graduate students introducing middle- and high-school students to digital storytelling techniques and tools such as iMovie. The English department sponsors the program with UofL’s Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society.

After a series of informal workshops, 15 students at Marion C. Moore School worked on a short documentary, “Freedom of Voice,” that was screened at the museum in a Sunday program that also featured poetry performances and a fashion show. The film represented the Moore students’ “personal and political experiences through their words, their camera lenses and their microphones,” organizers said.

Under the graduate students’ guidance, the Moore students developed storyboards to outline their work and shot, edited and produced the documentary. .

The work grew out of discussions and art projects from the weekly after-school club Cultural Dialoguers, which aims to build bridges of understanding between cultures and to advocate for social justice.

UofL student coordinators Patrick Danner and Caitlin Ray both termed the work with the Moore students among the more rewarding projects and experiences of college life, according to their .

“The students are so open, so engaged and so excited to tell their stories and speak their mind,” Danner said. “I’m usually exhausted on the drive there and inspired on the drive home. These students inspire me to listen better, engage more and step back from instruction and into the role of collaborator.”

Throughout the process the younger students explored hot-button issues such as gun control, sexual harassment, gender stereotypes and racial discrimination as they responded to current and cultural events that affected them.

“Highlights of our work at Moore have included generating ideas with a group of middle school students for a video essay about eating disorders, recording a performance/discussion with the Okolona community at South Central (Regional) Public Library and facilitating a roundtable discussion after the Parkland (Florida) shooting about the students’ thoughts about safety and gun violence in their community,” Ray said. “I am always struck by the level of critical awareness and thoughtfulness they bring to each meeting and always look forward to spending my Thursdays at Moore.”

The UofL College of Arts and Sciences, Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society and Kentucky Shakespeare are encouraging audience members to wear red to The Bard’s Cards evenings at in Central Park in Old Louisville.

UofL English professors and literature scholars will give pre-show talks, beginning at 7:15 p.m. on the C. Douglas Ramey Amphitheater stage, where the Kentucky Shakespeare performances will follow at 8 p.m. The events and speakers will be:

• June 4: talk by Joseph Turner before the comedy “Much Ado About Nothing”
• July 16: talk by Andrew Rabin before the history play “Richard II”
• July 26: talk by Matthew Biberman before “The Merchant of Venice,” a production of Kentucky Shakespeare’s Globe Players high school training program.

Seating on benches is first come, first served, but patrons also are allowed to bring chairs and blankets. Food and beverages are available for purchase. Central Park is at 1340 S. Fourth St.; parking is available along the bordering Fourth, Magnolia, Sixth and Park streets.

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