The Moth coming to Skidmore College
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » A storytelling nonprofit is set to lead educational workshops at Skidmore College, ending in a StorySLAM event.
The Moth will be at Skidmore from Friday through Sunday.
StorySLAM begins at 7 p.m. on Sept. 30 in Skidmore’s Arthur Zankel Music Center.
The SLAM features 10 students telling a five-minute story about a personal transformation or metamorphosis. A Moth host will emcee the event, which will be recorded for possible broadcast on a future episode of The Moth Radio Hour, presented by the Public Radio Exchange.
The Moth coaches storytellers from all walks of life. Its education wing has been helping students in New York City public high schools tell their own stories since 2012, but it’s rare for The Moth to offer the opportunity at colleges.
“It’s an especially huge deal that The Moth Education team is coming to Skidmore,” said Adam Tinkle, director of the John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative (MDOCS) at Skidmore. “My hope is that their visit sparks a culture of storytelling that can flourish at the college beyond the visit.”
In addition to the event emcee, four Moth Education instructors will host workshops on campus, beginning Friday with Skidmore professors learning methods for shaping and facilitating stories as well as incorporating storytelling practices into the classroom.
On Saturday, Sept. 29, and Sunday, Sept. 30, up to 60 students will attend three-hour workshops to explore Moth storytelling strategies and techniques, brainstorm stories from their lives and receive feedback from Moth instructors and fellow students. Selected students will tell their stories on the stage at Zankel’s Helen Filene Ladd Concert on Sunday evening.
StorySLAM is a free event and open to the public, but tickets are required. Visit www. skidmore.edu/zankel and click “tickets” at the left, or call the Zankel box office at 518-5805321.
MDOCS is presenting The Moth visit through a gift by Eric and Lisa Green, parents of a Skidmore student in the class of 2020.