Foundation Year - Barry Marshall
Posted on Tue, Nov 03, 2009
I attended Emerson from 1988-1990, in the foundation year course and the speech and drama course, with a brief stint at a Camphill Community in Switzerland in the interim. After my time at Emerson, I returned to the US, in the Hudson Valley of New York State, to work in the Visiting Students Program at Hawthorne Valley Farm in Harlemville. I remained there until 1993, during which time I met my wife, Jeri Burns.
Jeri and I immediately set to work developing ourselves as tandem storytellers, and in 1993, we set out on a full-time career as The Storycrafters. We have since managed to establish a national reputation for ourselves as performers, teachers, and recording artists in the artform of storytelling. Our work has taken us to fabulous places and helped us to meet glorious people all over the US and beyond...the photo you see of us was taken at a storytelling festival in the Cayman Islands! In addition, we are adjunct faculty at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT, in a graduate program in the Oral Tradition. There we teach graduate students, mainly teachers and librarians, many aspects of the oral tradition and storytelling, helping them to find ways to integrate the artform into their lives and workplaces.
I credit my time at Emerson College for so many things in my life and career. From a deeper understanding of the imagery in the stories, to ways of connecting with audience and listeners of the tales, to the very creative imagination wellspring from which the tales emanate, Emerson helped me to reach a fuller understanding of so many principles of the artform and its uses in the world.
I would love to be in touch with anyone who might remember me during those two magical years at Emerson. The website through which I can be contacted is www.storycrafters.com. Greetings to all, and blessings and thanks to the many wonderful people who make up Emerson College.