One Small Step, powered by StoryCorps, is coming to UMW this fall 2023 to record conversations on campus. The opportunity is open to the campus community and the greater Fredericksburg region, from the University of Mary Washington to Richmond, one of the anchor communities.
Mary Washington students, faculty, staff, and alumni are invited to sign up first! All it takes is one small step to complete the questionnaire, share your story, and record a conversation on campus, Oct. 24-28, 2023. Through the questionnaire, StoryCorps will get to know you and connect you with a conversation partner.
Sign up here: https://onesmallstep.storycorps.org/university-of-mary-washington-2023/
The questionnaire takes about five minutes to complete, and submissions are due by Sept. 15, 2023.
Created by StoryCorps, One Small Step is an effort to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree. The initiative brings individuals with different political views together to record a 50-minute conversation—not to debate politics, but to learn who we are as people. Audio recordings of each interview are archived at the Library of Congress and may also air on the StoryCorps website or NPR, with participants’ permissions. You can also choose to have the conversation and not broadcast it.
To date, more than 4,000 people across 40 states have recorded One Small Steps interviews. As stated on their website, “Together, we can show the rest of the country what it means to have the courage to listen.” Since 2003, StoryCorps has built the largest collection of human voices ever archived. Their mission is to build connections, encourage compassion between people, and share stories, big and small.
Anyone can participate in One Small Step. If you can’t make the dates for the conversations on campus, check out their website for more opportunities. StoryCorps will use the information you share in the application only to match you with a conversation partner and to share email updates about One Small Step. The recording dates at the University of Mary Washington are part of the Richmond initiative with One Small Step.
If you are interested in signing up as a class, club or organization, or connecting on more details, contact UMW Executive Director of University Communications Amy Jessee at ajessee@umw.edu.
