Kultur Stories

A cultural exchange program virtually connecting our future leaders — young people around the globe — to build awareness of human rights through creative expression.

WHAT WE DO

Kultur Stories brings together young people in virtual learning pods of 8 to 12 participants to form cross-cultural creative partnerships. The program includes facilitated in-person, virtual sessions, and asynchronous creative assignments to help young people learn about other cultures, collaborate with new friends, and use creative and technological tools to express their own stories. Our programs are customized to range from a short program — pairing pods from two countries for 1 to 3 virtual sessions — to our Tri-Cultural Program that includes weekly virtual sessions for three pods for an 8-week period. Pods are matched based on age groups, ranging from middle school (11 to 13 years old) to high school (14 to 17 years old ) to college age.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

1. Teachings about human rights and history from The Jüdische Kulturbund Project’s Shared Stories collection and other sources.
2. Inspiration and learning from practicing artists and guest speakers.
3. Direct Relationships and interactions with young people of other cultures, through full-group sharing, small group conversations, one-on-one interviews, and communication and collaborative challenges.
4. Asynchronous assignments to encourage cross-cultural learning, connection, and creative work.
5. Development of creative pieces for sharing, feedback, and performance.

LEARNING GOALS

1. Global Awareness and Connection: Connect young people of different cultures to share stories about their lives and learn about each other’s commonalities and differences.
2. Human Rights: Learn about historical and current global human rights and creative responses to oppression and injustice.
3. Creative Expression: Experiment and develop ability with creative expression through digital storytelling.
4. 21st-Century Skill Building: Develop social-emotional skills of empathy, appreciation of diversity, and problem solving along with the Four C’s of 21st-century learning: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical thinking, and (virtual/digital) Communication.

OUTCOME

1. Better understanding of  one’s own identity and similarities and differences across cultures.
2. Increased ability to communicate and collaborate with others from different backgrounds and to respond creatively to challenges.
3. Increased awareness of the impact of oppression and human-rights injustices and the power of storytelling to address those issues.