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UdK2300: On Teaching and Telling

Humans are story-telling animals. In the peri(patetic|cycletic) SoSe2026 seminar at Gutshof Sauen, we shall reflect upon history of story-telling as it has been, since times immemorial, practiced in different cultures and different contexts (artistic, educational, political etc.). We will ask questions like: "How will story-telling look like in the future ? What methods, instruments and media will be used to-tell-the-story in year 2300 ? Will AIs and corporations be the principal story-tellers or are they just temporary actors reminding us how important it is that humanity should protect its "narrative sovereignity" ? What stories will be told, by whom, and to whom ?". But first and foremost: we will practice. Outdoor and indoor; by a fireplace and in Extended Reality, we - You, me, us - will be telling stories. And, hopefully, also learning in the process.

Questiae

How will (story-)telling look like in the future ?

What methods, instruments and media will be used to-tell(-the-story) in year 2300 ?

Links

https://udk.ai/sauen (main course information)

#udk2300:medienhaus.udk-berlin.de Matrix room(if You install Matrix client (e.g. Element) App on Your device use "medienhaus.udk-berlin.de" as the homeserver)

0th Meeting (16.4)

Foreword(s)

Course validation

In order to get the course validated, You need to collect 10 "activity/attendance points" (AAPs). AAPs can be obtained as follows:

1 AAP for each attended non-Sauen session

1 AAP for Sauen check-in on 28.4. at 14:00

1 AAP for Sauen check-out on 30.4. at 14:00

1 AAP for every text You read at home

1 AAP for every story told

2 AAP for telling Your answer to the "Questiae" on day 3 and/or at Rundgang

AAPs can be lost as follows:

arriving to Sauen by car which is not completely populated

using smartphones during main teaching blocks

Group structure

There will be three groups:

5 observers (📓): as long as they do not say a word, observers are not obliged to participate in any pre-defined teaching block but they are expected to assume more active roles on day 3 and/or post-Sauen sessions

9 Walkers (🚶): those who come to Sauen on their feet

9 Bikers (🚵): those who come to Sauen on their bikez

Food

Breakfast   4,50 €       
Lunch 5,50 €       
Dinner 4,50 €

2 x Breakfast + 1 x Lunch + 2 x Dinner = 23,50 €

Please write into the Matrix room whether You order the food or not. 
 

How to get there

"Bikers" start at 13:00 from station Briesen (Mark); distance from Sauen (12.1 km), cca 40 min; route

to "Walkers" I highly recommend the road from Pfaffendorf (4km from Sauen) route (You can get to Pfaffendorf by taking a bus from Fürstenwalde (440 at 13:00 or 403 at 13:30)

there is also an option to come directly to Sauen by bus (arrival at 14:35 and 15:35)

What will be practiced

(story)-telling, observing, listening, being silent and being in silence, moving (walking, biking, dancing, swimming ?), feeling, sensing, perceiving, meditating, playing, reading (out loud), drawing, documenting ...      

What (not) to bring

what to bring (analog): stories You want to share; rain coats; towels; warm clothes / something to warm You up; some source of light, means of documenting (pen / pencils & paper, microphones); music instruments; something to sit on (old blanket, yoga mat)

what to bring (if You really really want to participate but Gutshof is booked out): tent, sleeping bag, hammock, usual camping & survival-in-the-forest stuff

what to bring (digital): Merlin ID (bird identification app); Naturblick / PlantNet (plant identification app); Stellarium (star-observing app); one max 4-min tune/song/recording You want us to hear (and tell a story about)

what NOT to bring: drugs which lead to addiction (e.g. alcohol) / illegal substances; digital devices (as long as it is not necessary for Your practice)

Precautionary measures

You are adult people and You are free to do whatever You want to do. But Your freedom ends where the freedom of the other person begins.

UdK has code of conduct

do not judge. communicate

each group has its "circle keeper" (volunteer, please make Yourself known)

check for the ticks (region Oder-Spree is an FMSE Risikogebiet)

shall we do fire ?

Literature

Texts You will go through with Daniel

Ursula leGuin: the Telling

William Storr: The science of story-telling

Joseph Campbell: The hero with the thousand faces

Paul Ricoeur: Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives

Texts You will go through with Rinah

Ingold, Tim: Lines (threads and Traces:p 39-53)

Trinh T. Minh-Ha: The Story began long time ago..(intro, 2 pages) 125-151 (Stories and their tellers)

Flusser, Vilem: Crisis of Linearity

Flusser, Vilem: Gestures

Suarez, Lavender: Transcendent Waves: How Listening Shapes Our Creative Lives.

Prologue (23.4)

Today we dive into the theoretical framework of the course. 

Daniel: anthropological & cognitive aspects of narration, linguistics / rhetorics, relation to narrations and mythology, scouting

Rinah: embodiment, relation(ship), linearity

If the weather is nice, we will go outdoors (e.g. Medienhaus Terrace, Medienhaus Garden or Kleistpark)

Prologue (23.4)

https://udk.ai/prologue

Sauen

The main narrative

28.4.

13:00 departure from Briesen (bikerz) & Fürstenwalde (walkers : bus 440 to Pfaffendorf)

13:50 cargo bike luggage pick-up between Pfaffendorf & Sauen 

14:00 - 15:00 check-in Gutshof Sauen

15:00 introduction to difference spaces (Remise, Eishaus)

17:00 dinner

18:00 excursion to Pappelmuttergarten (optional) / story-telling games

29.4

Teaching blocks (mandatory):

09:00-13:30

14:30-18:30

Evening block (optional):

fire

observing stars

telling, singing, listening

Rinah

1//Embodied Story telling (practices) multisensual and non-linearity
2//Collective Story telling (experiential) (Planetary Dance by Ann Halprin) discuss it
3//Documenting, Remembering multisentient telling (Theorizing &Debating /Trinh, Flusser Technologies)
4//Listening & Being In Silence (experiential)
5//Reading Out Loud, Telling, Gathering, Healing

30.4

On this day some of You will start providing their own, individiual, authentic, human answers to Questiae.

Observers will tell (us) what they observed...

...and teachers will become observers.

Check-out after lunch (cca 14:00)

Epilogue (7.5)

Reflecting on what happened. 

Preparing for Rundgang.

Evaluation (21.5)

Epilogue