Conversation and Workshop Series Engages Community

A series of free public conversations and workshops in Springfield brought community members and students together this spring to explore multiple forms of storytelling. UMass Amherst University Without Walls Department of Interdisciplinary Studies proudly co-presented “In These Times: Documenting Stories Through Our Own Lenses” with the UMass Amherst Henry M. Thomas III Center at Springfield, where all events were held.

Through panel presentations, hands-on workshops, community dialogues, and collaborative story creation, participants explored the roles of storytelling in their lives, work, and communities, as well as in contemporary social and political contexts. The series also examined the relationship between power and narrative, and the importance of preserving stories for future generations. Workshops provided practical knowledge in storytelling through photography, creative nonfiction writing, and oral history research.

The series began with “Preserving Community Stories with Archiving, Arts, & Advocacy” on February 21, with panelists Michelle Falcón Fontánez, a multimedia storyteller; Onawumi Jean Moss, storyteller, performer, writer, and former Dean of Students at Amherst College; Leena Matthews, community engagement director at Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network, and Ben Power, founder and curator of the Sexual Minorities Archives. Iohann Vega, director of media engagement at Holyoke Media, served as moderator.

The next panel, “Telling Stories with Oral History Research,” held on March 3, featured Princess Garrett, doctoral candidate in social justice education at UMass Amherst, and Patricia Romney, author of “We Were There: The Third World Women’s Alliance and the Second Wave” and former associate professor at Mount Holyoke and Hampshire colleges. The event was moderated by Millicent Jackson, fiction writer and executive director of Voices from Inside. 

On March 31, the final panel, “Photography as Storytelling”, brought together Japanese interdisciplinary artist Aiko Wakao Austin, Springfield photographer Sophie Markham, and Eunice Aviles, a psychologist and narrative exhibit creator of trans Latinx lives. The event was moderated by Stephen Cary, executive director of Focus Springfield.

Workshops included an oral history workshop led by UMass Amherst Department of History faculty members Sam Redman and Emily Hamilton, a writing workshop focusing on developing authentic narrative voice led by Millicent Jackson, an online creative photography workshop led by Aiko Wakao Austin, and a smartphone street photography workshop led by Sophie Markham.

The series was presented with support and collaboration from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, UMass Amherst Office of Equity and Inclusion, UMass Amherst Department of History, UMass Amherst Asian and Asian American Studies Certificate Program, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Asian American and Pacific Islanders Commission, Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network, Art for the Soul Gallery, Focus Springfield, Holyoke Media, and Goodchild Media.