Story Circles: Using Stories and Theater to Change Public Opinion （故事圈：透過故事與劇場改變公眾意見）

Personal stories offer a powerful way to change public opinion on violence against women. We are more likely to listen and react if a story touches our lives in a personal way. But not everyone is comfortable telling their story. Nor are we all good storytellers. This session will demonstrate strategies for gathering real stories and creating short skits that engage the public in stopping gender-based violence. Combining ethnography with theater practices, participants will leave this workshop with hands-on experiences you can employ in your work back home.

This workshop is co-facilitated by Ho-Thanh Nguyen (Pennsylvania Immigrant and Refugee Women's Network) and Amy E. Skillman (Building Cultural Bridges and Goucher College MA in Cultural Sustainability). This 90-minute workshop will fully engage the participants in a process we have used successfully in our home community. To enable the opportunity for personal learning, this workshop is limited to 50 attendees.

First, we will share our own experiences, describe the process, and offer some examples. Once the stage is set, you will participate in a series of Story Circle activities to gather stories, get to know each other, and become comfortable working together. These Story Circles are grounded in an ethnographic research process that honors personal narratives, decolonizes research, and privileges individual voices. You will then work in small groups with other participants to fine tune the stories you have shared, identify their essence, and create voices that have the power to shape public opinion.

Before closing, we will ensure time at the end for feedback, a debriefing of the process, and questions about how to implement this model in your own community.