Nathan Wang doesn’t consider public speaking his strong suit. So how did the fourth-year health sciences student end up on stage, alone, delivering a soliloquy about virtual health-care research?
It’s all thanks to Storyhouse.
Wang was in the inaugural cohort of students in an innovative storytelling program, using live performances to share Western research.
“At first I was kind of hesitant. Working with a research article and basically reverse engineering it to develop a narrative was kind of daunting. It pushed me out of my boundaries,” he said.
“It’s something I never would have expected to do during my time at Western.”
The Storyhouse program is about communicating scientific research with audiences of all kinds – the public, other researchers, governments or funders, community groups – to translate crucial findings to people who can use them to drive change.
The mission: “Use creative storytelling to connect people with knowledge they can put into action.”
Techniques to share and apply research for maximum impact in the real world – the basis of what’s called knowledge mobilization – are gaining recognition.
The brainchild of James Shelley, knowledge mobilization specialist in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Storyhouse is a mix of communications, storytelling, theatre, research and science.
He stressed the program is highly experimental, calling it “even a little risky.” But the feedback is, so far, glowing.
“It’s been transformative for some students in thinking about their studies, their role in research,” Shelley said.
It offers students the chance to be part of life-changing research at Western, even when they haven’t been involved in the study.
Making sense of research – and life
Storyhouse is a pilot, now in the second of three terms to trial the concept. It’s an experiential learning program, offered in about 10 courses – from biology to law – culminating in a live event. The next performance is March 14 at Conron Hall.
Each student shares a narrative performance – a first-person monologue, a third-person story, and all manner of other creative structures – to convey the essence and impact of a Western health sciences study.
James Shelley, knowledge mobilization specialist
“A lot of great, interesting and compelling research gets done every year – in the Faculty of Health Sciences, that looks like about 700 publications on average – and most of it goes on to live in academic journals. We have an opportunity, a challenge – what happens next with all that great work?” Shelley said.
“I’m interested in how people use stories and narrative just to make sense of life, in general. I think one can make a strong argument that you don’t really communicate in a compelling way with other people unless you’re engaging them as creatures who make meaning through story. We need to communicate the story.”
Each student in Storyhouse is matched with a publication to bring alive through storytelling. Shelley calls it the “bridge.”
Over the nine-week program, the Storyhouse team teaches the basics of research publishing, identifying and analyzing an audience, narrative theory and stage delivery, among other skills. Each week, students test, refine, and workshop their narratives together.
The first Storyhouse participants spoke about eating disorders, speech-language pathology, bronchitis treatment, homelessness and housing supports, and many more research areas.
One performance even focused on an inconclusive study, showcasing the bumpy journey of a research team, and the importance of their work – even when it doesn’t end in a splashy headline.
‘We need more of this’
Lynn Shaw, director of Western’s School of Occupational Therapy, was immediately intrigued by the program.
“I’m all for anything innovative and new. Opportunities to explore, discover and use Storyhouse as a means of sharing exciting knowledge with people, and provoking thought, was extremely interesting,” she said.
“When you use narrative, it allows someone to wrestle with space and time to see if the story resonates with something in their life.” – Lynn Shaw, director of Western’s School of Occupational Therapy
Right away, Shaw knew she wanted to submit an article.
Wang shared the results from the perspective of a rural patient and their family.
He ended with a call to action, telling the crowd that even a single health-care innovation has the power to change lives.
“Will you be known as someone who passed on the opportunity to implement revolutionary change in the health-care system?”
Results drive interest, engagement
Both Shaw and Wang are big believers in the program.
“Stories hold the power to pass down knowledge, pass down wisdom to future generations,” Wang said.
It even changed how he consumes research.
“Before Storyhouse, I felt like I was just reading the research study, but was I really understanding it? Now I’m really paying attention to the purpose and the different methods used, and I love to focus on the limitations.”
Lynn Shaw, director of the School of Occupational Therapy
Shaw described Wang’s performance of the study as provocative and evocative, capturing interest from listeners.
“The possibilities of who would listen to the story expanded exponentially through Nathan’s lens on this, and who he interpreted the audience to be.”
For Shelley, that’s meaningful feedback.
“The best moments for me are when faculty say, ‘that captures my research beautifully, and that communicates my research in a way I never thought of.’”
Ultimately, he says, Storyhouse is a success when the narratives create “a bridge” that connects with people who would not have otherwise engaged with the research.
Shaw was the first member of her family to go to graduate school. She recalled her father asking why she had names in the middle of her sentences – in-text citations didn’t make sense to him. Research papers just aren’t accessible for everyone, she noted.
“I think we need more of this in our everyday lives,” Shaw said of approaches like Storyhouse.
“We’ve got caught up in the scientific way of doing research, forgetting to make it accessible. I love this idea of laying down the legacy of the stories.”
IF YOU GO
Conron Hall (UC 3110)
Thursday, March 14, 2024, 7 p.m.
Register for free
