Migration made Missouri!
As part of our 23rd Cambio de Colores Conference, we are offering the first-ever Cambio Storytelling Festival, “Migration and Missouri: Sharing Stories to Connect to Each Other and Our Ever-Changing Communities,” designed to explore our shared roots as part of the state’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — our country’s Semiquincentennial. Participants at the conference will hear from professional storytellers, attend workshops to learn how to tell their own migration story, and have the opportunity to apply for funds to share their stories back in their home communities.
A limited number of scholarships are available for Missouri residents who want to attend the conference and tell their migration stories. These scholarships aim to cover the registration fee and/or travel costs for participants!
Please apply here. [The application is closed, but if you have questions or interest in the program, please email cambio @ missouri.edu.]
The Cambio Center is sponsoring this program in partnership with the Missouri Humanities and with support from the Missouri Humanities Trust Fund. Read our press release here.
Cambio Storytelling FAQs
1. How long should our story be?
There is no length determined, but for oral storytelling, we estimate about ~10-20 minutes per person for people who want to present in front of a group during the festival. For a written story, it may be as long or as short as you like! It might be a narrative, it might be a poem, it might be a drawing. You choose!
2. Who will be the main audience, and what types of participants are expected to attend?
The main audience of the Cambio de Colores conference includes individuals from universities like students and professors, as well as social service providers from immigrant-serving organizations, local policymakers, and community advocates.
3. Should our storytelling focus on a single story, or is it acceptable to combine a few different stories?
Participants will attend a workshop on Wednesday or Thursday to figure this out! 🙂
4. Is there a specific format or structure that you would like us to follow for the presentation?
No, you can be creative.
5. Approximately how many people are expected to be in the audience?
We will create opportunities for storytellers to tell their stories in any way that they like, for instance: (1) one-on-one; (2) anonymous recordings; (3) in small story circles with 3-8 people; or (4) in front of an audience of maybe 20-50 people. It will vary, depending upon how many people attend the festival and what YOU decide you want to do in the moment.
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The Missouri Humanities Council (MHC) awarded a grant of $25,000 to the Cambio Center in support of this project titled “Migration and Missouri: Sharing Stories to Connect to Each Other and Our Ever-Changing Communities.” The MHC is the only statewide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971.
