Summer Speaker Series: Jonah Willihnganz on Empathy – How to Tell a Great Story and Develop the Empathic Mind

Jonah Willihnganz, Director of the Stanford Storytelling Project, will share the power of story for the teller and the listener. He’ll facilitate a Story Exchange, an interactive and immersive storytelling workshop to empower students looking to deepen their relationships and contribute to a more empathetic community. Students will acquire storytelling tools to engage more authentically and feel centered in their lives, and to nurture deep human capacities like empathy. 

Jonah Willihnganz is the Bruce Braden Lecturer of Narrative Studies and director of The Stanford Storytelling Project, an arts program that explores how narrative practices can help deepen natural human capacities such as courage, empathy, and gratitude.  His main research interests have been in the fields of narratology and psychology and he has published fiction, essays, and articles on American literature.  Willihnganz teaches courses in creative writing, American literature, media studies, and critical theory, and collaborates extensively across disciplines to explore how story craft and practices can be used to create personal and social change. 

This event is open to Stanford Summer Session students. Masks are encouraged as this program is indoors. If you need a disability-related accommodation or wheelchair access information, please contact the Diversity & Access Office, disability.access@stanford.edu. Requests should be made by June 21.