Saint Ebbes
Littlegate Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 1RL
UK
An energising day geared to appeal to children and adults a-like. If you love stories and what we can learn from them, don’t miss this event.
Join us for a day of workshops, poetry and story telling as we explore the power behind myths and traditional stories. The day is open to all who are interested in how stories affect our lives, and is designed to appeal to kids from 7 to 70+!
Workshop on stories, philosophy for children, and myths in contemporary society:
We begin the day with a set of workshops run by the folks at Camp Quest. Amidst activities such as ‘evolve your own mythical creature’ and summer-camp style activities designed to promote critical thinking, we will look at how myths, fairy tales, and traditional stories convey ethics and morals.
Children have their own innate sense of morality. In a session titled “Myths and Fairy stories: Do Adults get the point?”, we’ll use examples to look at how young people engage with these stories and how the discipline of “Philosophy for Children” works with this.
Many cultures still pass on traditional stories. But are they relevant in an age where technology dominates our lives and the lives of our kids? In another session, we’ll use an old folk myth from South-East Europe in which the month of March is associated with Granny Marta – the only sister of the other 11 months of the year to ask if we can ‘read’ contemporary meaning into traditional stories – and what they say about the ability of human societies from all times to pack knowledge into various forms of metaphors and allegories. This short workshop will also show young and old participants how to make MARTENITSA – a small tinsel to great Granny Marta.
Panel Discussion: “That feeling of Wonder”
After a short lunch break, participants can engage with a panel of non-religious and religious speakers who will lead a discussion on where we find our inspiration. What gives you that feeling of wonder?
Andrew Copson (Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association), Liz Rothschild (Founder of the Westmill Woodland Burial Grounds), Dr. Alison Murdoch (Founding Director of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom).
Poetry, stories and an open mic session:
Interspersed throughout the day we will have poetry readings on the theme of “Myth and Discovery”, and finally we will open the session to all participants who fancy sharing a story or reading. Led by two members of Oxford Humanists who will open the session, audience members will have a chance to share their favourite myths, traditional stories, tales of famous or not-so-famous discoveries, or readings that have inspired them.
Refreshments will be available throughout the day. Participants are welcome to join us for whichever session inspires them the most, but we hope you will come for the whole day!
10:00am – The Power of Stories with Camp Quest
12:00pm – Poetry reading
12:20pm – Informal light lunch
1:00pm – “That Feeling of Wonder” – Interfaith discussion on where we find inspiration.
2:10pm – Poetry reading
2:30pm – Story Telling and open mic until they kick us out!
Time slots in the open mic will be 5-7mins for stories, 2-3mins for readings. Can you inspire us in under 10 mins?
For more details or to register intent to participate, write to us at [email protected].