Kevin Cordi
March 21, 2024
The Great Hall
Kevin holds a doctorate from The Ohio State University in Education, Storytelling, and Story Making and has taught storytelling at the university and secondary level. For seven years at Ohio Dominican University, he taught “Applied Storytelling” as well as other courses in the areas of children and young adult literature and folk and fairy-tales. He served as OSU’s first “Academic Storyteller in Residence” with the Multicultural Center. He developed programs using narrative to address gender, equity, diversity, and social justice. He now serves as a national/international story/storytelling consultant and is working full time as an Assistant Professor of Literacy and Education at Ohio University Lancaster. Since 2009, he has served as a Co-Director for the Columbus Area Writing Project with the OSU branch of the National Writing Project. He has told stories in over forty states, England, Scotland, Singapore, Canada, Japan and in Qatar. Kevin shares stories with a highly energetic, animated, and interactive style and is considered by many storytelling professionals as one of the most influential and dynamic storytellers and teachers today. His award-winning story work has been commissioned by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, American Library Association, National Storytelling Network, Newsweek, and the Qatar Foundation International. He is considered one of the "nation's primary advocates for youth storytelling"! According to the National Storytelling Network, he is “the first full time high school storytelling teacher in the country”. His work has been chronicled in the book he co- authored with Judy Sima, Raising Voices: creating youth storytelling groups and troupes.
Synopsis
We Think In Story
By: Christina Schweiss
The Ask. Ponder. Educate. [X]. event on March 21 featured Kevin Cordi, teacher, author, and storyteller. His presentation was called “What Didn't They Teach You About Story in School?”
According to the National Storytelling Network, Cordi is “the first full time high school storytelling teacher in the country.”
Cordi began his presentation with a story about his mom. He said, “I was raised on stories. Think about a story and what it means to your life and what it could mean.”
Cordi has been teaching for 34 years. He teaches lectures based upon storytelling. He said, “Students need to talk. We need to value the rich communication of each other.”
Storytelling has always played a dominant role in the world. Cordi explained that “Natives say stories are living things.”
As an educator, telling stories is a part of his job. Cordi encourages fellow teachers to have their students tell stories. When they do, Cordi said that it is important to “Never ask why, just let them tell the story.”
When listening to stories, Cordi explained that “We don’t remember the ordinary, we remember the trouble.” The trouble of a story can lead the listener to want to make a change in their own life.
According to Cordi, “Story is the way we think, act, and respond. A powerful story can change the brain of the listener.”
Cordi declared that “The three most powerful things you can say to someone are ‘I wonder,’ ‘imagine,’ and ‘have you considered.’” With these prompts anyone and everyone can tell their story.
Leaving the audience with something to ponder, Codi suggested the audience ask themselves, “What story am I going to come up with today?”
The last A.P.E.X. event of the semester will take place on March 26 during the Festival of Excellence. The guest speaker will be Susan Clayton. Her presentation will be called “Psychology and Climate Change: Understanding Impacts and Responses.”
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