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Five local storytellers will share stories of migrations during Syracuse University's annual Sojourner Storytelling Conference on Feb. 26

February 20, 2004


Kelly Homan Rodoski
kahoman@syr.edu







Students Offering Service (SOS) and African American Programs at Syracuse University's Hendricks Chapel will sponsor its 6th Annual Sojourner Storytelling Conference on Thursday, Feb. 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

Within the theme of "Migrations," five local storytellers will tell ageless legends intended to move listeners toward a greater understanding of global communities. All presentations will take place in the main chapel except for the noon presentation, which will take place in the chapel's Noble Room.

This year's storytellers and the stories they will share are:


  • 10 a.m.--Sonita Surratt, artistic director for Rising Sun Productions and Opera in the Hood-"Phyllis Wheatley, The Poet and the Slave."
  • 11 a.m.-Geoffrey Navais, artistic director of the Open Hand Puppet Theater and former chair of the drama department at the Metropolitan School for the Arts-"Literary Tales Through the Ages and Through the Nations."
  • Noon-Cynthia Bishop, a public librarian and audio book narrator-"Insight as Movement."
  • 1:30 p.m.-Arthur Flowers, associate professor of English in The College of Arts and Sciences, author and performance artist-"Songs of the Civil Rights Movement."
  • 3 p.m.-Francis McMillan Parks, director of Students Offering Service and African American Programs in Hendricks Chapel and founder of the Sojourner Storytelling Conference-"Historical Migrations."


Co-sponsors for the event include The College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Human Services and Health Professions, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Department of Anthropology and other academic and administrative divisions at SU and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

For more information, call 443-1254 or e-mail Rachael Gazdick at rgazdick@twcny.rr.com.