Teaching for Peace and Justice
A Two-Semester Training Program
The application process for the Fall 2019 session of Herstory’s training institute taking place at Hofstra University is currently underway.
We are reaching out to teachers, writers, retirees, community activists, and human service providers to let you know that that there will be 6-10 places offered on a competitive basis to community members interested in contributing to the movement to use story-based strategies to give voice to those whose stories most need to be heard in these dark, challenging times.
This inter-generational institute, including graduate and undergraduate students recruited by colleges and universities all over Long Island, offers a rich two-semester immersion in Herstory’s unique empathy-based pedagogy and practice to those who are interested in working in alternative settings with populations that have traditionally been without a voice.
A new cohort takes shape every spring at Stony Brook and every fall at Hofstra, ensuring that Herstory will be offering field placements year-round. This year’s community cohort includes the director of Nassau County’s Re-Entry Task Force, the Policy Council & Volunteer Supervisor for Long Island Head Start, the retired Director of the Graduate Nursing Program for St. Joseph’s College, a retired financial adviser with a strong interest in criminal justice and immigrants’ rights, a non-traditional human services student looking for a new direction for her life, and the daughter of the lieutenant who brought Herstory into the jails 13 years ago.
With 11 Spanish speakers in the combined Stony Brook and Hofstra cohorts, we are particularly interested in expanding our number of bilingual trainees, in response to an increasing number of requests from school districts and community organizations and to generate more stories for the Long Island Wins Website.
Fall 2019 Semester
During the first semester, participants are fully immersed in Herstory’s pedagogy. This includes participation in a hands-on weekly writing workshop in which they will have the opportunity to explore the pedagogy from the inside, while studying the principles that make the Herstory method so effective. Meetings take place every Monday from 11:15 am to 1:45 pm at the Center for Civic Engagement at Hofstra. A two-semester commitment with full attendance in the spring followed by field placement in the fall is a requirement for acceptance into the program, offered to selected candidates free of charge.
Spring 2020 Semester
As the first semester draws to a close, participants will assist in designing individualized field placements with organizations partnering with Herstory to advance peace and justice. They will be paired with undergraduate students from Hofstra and other Long Island colleges and universities in preparation for 12 weeks of supervised workshop facilitation at the sites of their choice. We particularly welcome Spanish speakers interested in working with young people and communities at risk. We are open to helping community members create placements at their own sites.
To Apply
Applications will be considered on a competitive basis in the order in which they are received. If you have any questions, please contact Herstory’s artistic director, Erika Duncan at eduncan@herstorywriters.org. To download an application, click here.
*Placements include: after school “Youth Writing for Justice” programs; workshops in Spanish for young people who just crossed the border; and workshops for incarcerated women and girls. Trainee generated placements include: a workshop for parents in partnership with Patchogue Head Start; a workshop for people returning from prison in partnership with Nassau County’s re-entry program; a workshop for families of the incarcerated mentally ill, in partnership with NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness; and much more.
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Following graduation from the institute, a limited number of paid opportunities are offered to participants who wish to continue to teach in the program.
