View a complete list of talks, workshops, and presentations.

Lectures, Workshops, and Presentations

LECTURES

• Delivered a keynote speech and a one-hour workshop for approximately 600 Rotary leaders including Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta at the Big West Zone Institute; Tucson, AZ: 2021 
• Presented a keynote for World Artists Experience's “Culture Is People: Storytelling into the Future" conference; virtual: 2021 
• “Storytelling: A Radical Gift of Hope/Storytelling: Un regalo radical de esperanza,” a talk for the Bank of the Republic of Columbia’s “Peace Speaks Up” initiative; virtual: 2021
• Presented a closing keynote for the Maker City Summit in partnership with the Office of the Mayor; Knoxville, TN: 2021
• Presented a plenary talk and Q&A for artists with the RiffRaff Arts Collective’s “We Need to Talk!” initiative, funded by an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; Princeton, WV: 2021
• “Rethinking the Narrative,” a plenary talk for the League of American Orchestras annual conference; virtual: 2021
• Participated in “How Do We Talk to Each Other? Storytelling for Racial Justice,” a panel discussion for the final Freedom Stories presentation; virtual: 2021
• “The Transformative Power of Storytelling,” an open keynote for the National Museum of African American Music’s Rivers of Rhythm Institute for Social Education conference; Nashville, TN: 2021
• Presented a keynote for the Greely Rotary District Conference; virtual: 2021
• “Your Story, Your Values, Your Impact,” a keynote for the Future Assistant conference held across western Europe; virtual: 2021
• Delivered a plenary talk for the annual Rural Assembly Everywhere conference presented by the Center for Rural Strategies; virtual: 2021
• “The Power of Storytelling,” a keynote for Rotary E-club of World Peace; virtual: 2021
• Opening remarks and welcome for the ISC’s Freedom Stories initiative; virtual: 2020
• “Storytelling and Peace,” +Peace Coalition Launch and United Nation’s International Day of Peace plenary lecture; New York, NY: 2019
• “Home,” Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Homecomin’ keynote address at the invitation of Dolly Parton; Pigeon Forge, TN: 2019
• Storytelling and peace lecture series for the annual Rotary International Conference and Peace Symposium; Hamburg, Germany: 2019
• Presented at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 50th Anniversary; Washington DC: 2017
• “Storytelling: The Power of Peace,” US Department of Defense opening keynote and workshop for Collaborative and Adaptive Security Initiative (CASI;) Arlington, VA: 2017
• “Storytelling: A Peaceful Power,” TEDx talk; Nashville, TN: 2016 
• “The Transformative Power of Storytelling: A Social Force for Social Change,” Botkin Lecture Series, 40th Anniversary of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress; Washington, DC: 2016 
• “Narratives of Hope,” paper at the Society for Anthropology North American conference; Durham, NC: 2013
• “Beyond the Comfort Zone: Challenging Conventional Narratives of Peace,” a speech for the Rotary Spring Conference: 2013
• “Poetry for Social Change,” lecture at the Peace to Peace Conference; Greenwood, SC: 2012
• “Social Justice Folklore,” an address at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage; Washington DC: 2013
• Keynote address to international delegation at United Nations; New York, NY: 2012
• “Ethnography at Street Level,” paper delivered at the American Folklore Society conference; New Orleans, LA: 2012
• “The Engaged Museum,” speech at UNESCO British Council Managing World Heritage Sites conference; Edinburgh, Scotland: 2008
•  “Challenging Sectarianism,” lecture at the Gallery of Modern Art Lecture Series; Glasgow, Scotland: 2007
• Keynote speaker at Conference on World Religions: 2007
•  “Engaging with Communities and New Arrivals,” keynote at Northern Ireland Museums Conference; Belfast, Northern Ireland: 2005

WORKSHOPS & PRESENTATIONS

• Delivered a keynote speech and a one-hour workshop for approximately 600 Rotary leaders including Rotary International President Shekhar Mehta at the Big West Zone Institute; Tucson, AZ: 2021
• Delivered an applied storytelling presentation for the “fine arts and PE” section of Niswonger Regional Learning Day, a professional development summit for regional K-12 teachers across disciplines sponsored by the Niswonger Foundation; Greeneville, TN: 2021 
• “Finding Your Story,” a workshop for young adults presented as part of the Young Appalachian Story Summit; Jonesborough, TN: 2021
• “Weaving Our Stories,” a workshop for public space practitioners based in New Mexico including federal agents with the Bureau of Land Management; virtual: 2021
• “commUNITY,” a community-building talk/workshop joint event presented in partnership with Stuart Rotary of Stuart, Virginia: 2021
• Presentation to the National Council of Tradition Arts on the impact of the Freedom Stories initiative; virtual, 2021
• Presentation to Biden-Harris Arts and Humanities Transition Team on the importance of the arts and humanities in rural regions such as Central Appalachia; virtual: 2020
• “Telling Stories that Matter” workshop; a training for members of the interpretive staff at the Bureau of Land Management, the National Parks Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forestry Service; virtual: 2020
• Artists at Work advocacy training; a workshop for members of the AAW team, a WPA-inspired pandemic-response project funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation; virtual: 2020
• “Stories as Medicine” pilots; a series of resiliency-trainings designed for healthcare workers, developed in direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic; Johnson City, TN and Ballarat, Australia: 2020
• Training and consulting for the Uganda Storytelling Initiative; Tororo, Uganda: ongoing
• Story Circle Leader, House Foreign Relations Committee; eventually helping lead to the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2019; Washington, DC: 2016
•  “Telling Stories that Matter,” a collaborative series of workshops for community building and healing following the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church; Charleston, SC: Feb. 2016
• Community Partners Action Summit participant at the invitation of the White House; Washington, DC: 2015
• Participated in various talks and projects across Colombia focused on social responsibilities, human rights education, and peace promotion with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs); Bogotá, Ibague, and Cartagena, Colombia: 2009
• Human rights-centered program and workshop for World Refugee Day; Glasgow, Scotland: 2008
• Panel speaker on “museums of the future” at the “Moving on Up” development session; UK Museums Association: 2008
• Glasgow representative in sister-city project “Societies in Crisis” sponsored by the European Commission aimed at better structuring and enriching educational approaches to youth initiatives across Europe and the Mediterranean; Marseilles, France: 2007
• “Faith to Faith: F2F,” adult social justice learning program aimed at allowing visitors to discuss and debate issues relating to religion in Scotland and the world; Glasgow, Scotland: 2007
• Invited to chair session at the UK Museums Association conference: 2004
• “Sense over Sectarianism,” a 16 panel exhibition produced by working with two schools and using artworks produced by students; Glasgow, Scotland: 2004