Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact

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Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact

We imagine a world where storytelling creates just and joyful communities.

At the Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact, our mission is to weave together meaningful stories with those who live them. We foster collaborative storytelling and advances narrative scholarship to catalyze collective action. Foster collaborative storytelling
• Create spaces for narrative encounters that encourage understanding, empathy, and connection across differences.

• Work alongside community members to witness, create, and share stories in creative forms to educate and effect change.
• Collaborate with private industry, granting agencies, and non-profits on interest-based projects. Advance narrative scholarship:
• Involve faculty and students at Ohio University and beyond in the creation and analysis of storytelling.
• Conduct inter-disciplinary, participatory, and narrative-based research.
• Cultivate narrative pedagogies that harness the power of storytelling for catalytic learning. Our guiding principles:
• Elevate community voices and local forms of knowledge.
• Surface and amplify voices previously unheard or dismissed.
• Shift dominant narratives that limit human potential.
• Enhance individual and communal well-being.
• Model ways to thrive amid trauma and hardship. Our Narrative Work:
• Interactive workshops
• Feature-length films
• Art installations
• Academic essays
• Digital stories
• Audio podcasts
• Immersive media
• Poetic interpretations

06/08/2026

✨ Stories endure because people carry them.

At the reopening of the historic Tecumseh Theater in Shawnee, Tyler McDaniel, President of Little Cities of Black Diamonds, reminded us why places like this matter:

"Generations of people who remember and care-take the stories, histories, and memories of Shawnee and its people have allowed us to get to this moment in time, where this old theater can once again shine and be a beacon of entertainment, art, and community building for Shawnee and the Little Cities region."

We are inspired by this recognition of the memory workers who carry the stories of those who came before us across time and space. They help us see that old theaters, weathered signs, treasured artifacts, and community memories are remnants of the past and invitations to imagine new futures.

The Storytelling Institute is honored to partner with Little Cities of Black Diamonds in documenting and celebrating this remarkable region. Our collaboration began years ago through Ohio's Winding Road, a storytelling project highlighting the people and places that shape Appalachian Ohio:
🎥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM4MGWSQF58&list=PLJvNiRQAXKJy9kAHoxpznqwUBeQD-U-st&index=6

That work continues to grow. Last year, OHIO Honors Tutorial student Ella Spremulli completed a thesis exploring the stories, heritage, and placemaking practices of Little Cities of Black Diamonds under the direction of Dr. Lynn Harter:
📖 https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/r/etd/search/10?p10_accession_num=ouhonors1777125374538502&clear=10&session=16118909733549

As we celebrate the reopening of the Tecumseh Theater, we are excited about what comes next. Congratulations to everyone whose vision, labor, and care helped bring this historic space back to life. 🎭✨

Photo credits: Jorge Castillo and Lynn Harter

05/28/2026

The Storytelling Institute is honored to partner with Little Cities of Black Diamonds in documenting and celebrating the people, places, and preservation efforts that keep this remarkable heritage alive. Through storytelling, we hope to illuminate how memories of the past continue to inspire community, creativity, and renewal across the region today. ✨🏛️📖

🎭 The Tecumseh Theater will officially reopen its doors on July 6, welcoming the community back into a historic space for storytelling, music, arts, and connection in the Little Cities of Black Diamonds region. Renovations supported through the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program (AMLER) grant have helped bring new life to the theater, with more restoration still ahead.

Read the full article in the link below to learn more about the restoration initiative, the vision behind the Tecumseh Theater’s reopening, and the impact this space hopes to have across the Little Cities of Black Diamonds region.⬇️

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/tecumseh-grand-reopening-barbara-geralds-institute-for-stor-kdwhc

📷By Olivia Raney and Jorge A. Castillo-Castro

Tecumseh Theater • Tecumseh Commons

05/26/2026

From sketch → stitch → story. ✨🦩

Meet Kim the Flamingo, a vibrant element of the You Belong Here quilt.

During a storytelling and art workshop facilitated by Lynn Harter from the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication and Kim Cuny from UNCG Communication Studies Department, Adam Stall from Peacehaven drew a flamingo full of personality and motion. That drawing traveled from North Carolina to the Passion Works Studio in Ohio, where the flamingo took on a new life.

Using iron-on fabric transfer paper, the original sketch was translated onto fabric. Collaborators then machine-sewed Kim together and added hand-stitched embellishments that brought texture, color, and flair to every curve and feather.

And the story didn’t stop there.

Using digital technology and the artistic hand of Kirby Bowman, Kim the Flamingo made friends with Smokey Robinson. A whimsical story about Smokey created by Alexis Rhinehart now dances in the painted background behind the stitched figure.

This is what collaborative making can look like:
A drawing becoming fabric,
fabric becoming story,
and story becoming community. 💚

Stay tuned for more glimpses into the joyful, layered process behind You Belong Here.

05/23/2026

The flamingo is fluffing its feathers. 🦩
The cat is supervising the packing. 🐈
The frog keeps hopping in to “help.” 🐸
And the fish is wondering how suitcases work.🐟

What started as a collaborative project among artists from Passion Works Studio and Peacehaven alongside students, faculty, and staff from Ohio University Scripps College of Communication and the UNCG Communication Studies Department continues to grow as it moves across communities, carrying stories of difference, creativity, care, and connection.

Every stitched piece reminds us that belonging is not a finished destination. It is something we keep making together through shared spaces, shared stories, and shared acts of welcome.

For now, the quilt is being carefully folded, packed, and prepared for travel, holding within it the colors, textures, memories, and playful spirits of everyone who helped bring it to life.

The project is coordinated by Lynn Harter and Kim Cuny, and builds on the “You Belong” theme initiated by Code Shift Lab at Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Stay tuned as the journey continues. 💚🦩🐈🐸🐟

05/11/2026

Congratulations to Olivia Raney for graduating with an MFA in Communication Media and Arts! Ohio University Scripps College of Communication 🎓✨

For the last 3 years, Olivia has been an important member of the Storytelling Institute. Her skills in photography, video production, and design have contributed to many of the projects and collaborations we have developed over the years. More importantly, her commitment to working alongside historically underrepresented members of our community has helped create stories that are thoughtful, compassionate, and deeply meaningful. 💚

Of particular note is how Olivia helped bring to life our Culture, Community, and Connection (3C) Photo Contest and collaborated on several videos in partnership with Sugar Bush Foundation, Passion Works, and Turn It Gold. 📸🎥✨

We are excited to see Olivia begin this next chapter, working with nonprofit organizations focused on sustainable development and cultural preservation in Ecuador. 🇪🇨🌱

Congratulations, Olivia! Your care for people and stories will continue making a difference wherever you go. 💫

05/08/2026

Congratulations to Nik Robinson on completing a Master of Communication in the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication! For three years, Nik has been part of the Storytelling Institute community as both an undergraduate and graduate student, bringing curiosity, generosity, and a deep commitment to serving others through story.

Through the Institute’s partnership with Cats' Cupboard, Nik immersed himself in questions of food access, food waste, and food justice. With his leadership, the Institute collected more than 11,313 pounds of food in fall 2026. Nik served as a student research assistant on a digital story exploring how we might enlarge what is valued in civic and organizational decision-making through Social Return on Investment, and he leaned thoughtfully into understanding the narrative nature of conflict mediation through work with the Athens Area Mediation Service

Next year, Nik will serve with AmeriCorps as a teacher and tutor in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Nik, we remain impressed with how you move through spaces with humility and integrity. You remind us that storytelling is about listening well and helping build conditions where people and communities can flourish. We know your next chapter will carry that same spirit of care and possibility.

To view the digital story Nik worked on, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCaYm_t_8cI

05/04/2026

Higher education, at its best, is a place of curiosity. At the Storytelling Institute, faculty and students pose questions and carry them beyond the classroom and think alongside others in pursuit of both knowledge and the wisdom to discern how it might be used in service of others. We pause to congratulate several graduating students who worked with the institute.

Ella Spremulli, a student in the Ohio University Honors Tutorial College, graduated with a B.S. in Communication Studies. Her honor’s thesis is titled “Rooted in the Hills: Exploring Identity, Industry, and Place in Southeastern Appalachian Ohio Through a Narrative Lens." Over the past year, she worked alongside Little Cities of Black Diamonds to explore how it functions as a storytelling hub working to keep regional history in motion through intergenerational lynchpins and memory objects. Her thesis offers a layered account moving through poetic prose and analytic sensemaking with stakeholders of Little Cities.

During her time at Ohio University, Ella was an intern at the Storytelling Institute and worked on projects with Sugar Bush Foundation and Passion Works Studio. We witnessed and benefitted from her curiosity, creativity, and compassionate courage.

Her next step involves an AmeriCorps position with the Teton Science Schools. Congratulations, Ella! We are so proud of you. Remember that you will always have a home at Ohio University even as you carry it with you to the Tetons and beyond.

04/21/2026

The story continues.

In our first post, we shared the hanging of the You Belong Here quilt at Passion Works. Today, we’re bringing you to a companion installation in Scripps Hall at Ohio University, where the project continues to gather voices.

This banner is made of six-word stories, small and powerful expressions in response to a simple question: What does belonging feel like? These stories were penned by residents at Peacehaven, and students and faculty at Ohio University Scripps College of Communication and UNCG Communication Studies Department, as part of this ongoing collaboration initiated by Code Shift Lab at Newhouse School at Syracuse University and in partnership with Passion Works Studio.

You’ll notice the circles. Each story rests within or alongside a circle, quilted, drawn and layered. Circles show up everywhere in the natural world: in rings of trees, ripples of water, the turning of seasons. They hold without closing in. They expand without breaking apart. In this project, circles become a way of imagining belonging not as something fixed or bounded, but as something that grows—making room, inviting others in, carrying many stories at once.

If you’re in Athens, we invite you to stop by Scripps Hall and add your own six-word story. There are materials waiting for you.

If you’re farther away, you’re still part of this circle. Share your response below to the prompt: What does belonging feel like?

04/19/2026

We’re honored to introduce You Belong Here, a traveling quilt of stories, difference, and belonging.

This collaborative project was co-created with artists from Passion Works Studio and Peacehaven alongside students, faculty, and staff from the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication and the UNCG Communication Studies Department. Already stitched into the quilt are the colors, textures, and stories of participants, a reminder that belonging is something we create together.

This first video captures the hanging of the banner at Passion Works, marking the quilt’s first installation as it begins its journey as a traveling exhibit. From here, it will continue to gather new layers of story and connection across places and people.

The project is coordinated by Lynn Harter and Kim Cuny, and builds on the “You Belong” theme initiated by Code Shift Lab at Newhouse School at Syracuse University

In the days ahead, we’ll look back and walk step by step through the process, featuring the people, practices, and moments that brought this quilt into being. Stay tuned!

04/08/2026

🩺✨ We often see the lab coats 🥼—but miss the people wearing them 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️

Through Behind the White Coat, students use storytelling 🎤 to explore the personal side of medicine—identity, burnout, empathy, and courage 💪

💚 On Giving Day (April 8th), your support helps future health professionals reflect 🤔, connect 🤝, and heal ❤️—before they ever step into a patient’s room.

🙏 Shoutout to Associate Director Dr. Joe Bianco for guiding this impactful initiative!

🙌 Be part of the story.

💚 📖 🎓
Ohio University Scripps College of Communication Ohio University

https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/74612/donations/new?designation=barbarageraldsinstituteforstorytellingandsocialimpactsp&a=7853746&amt=250&fbclid=IwY2xjawRDrzRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEyVVpMOWJBVnU2OEVBT3hYc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHoMYOw_i-VF84LQ4-diROIob-V2gqhybKEi2YCdryMWwxdp__8whgbHquYjT_aem_0lqwXoUxt1CXNhqFDvDadg

Address

105 Scripps Hall
Athens, OH
45701

Website

https://www.ohio.edu/scripps-college/schools-centers/barbara-geralds-institute

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