Storytelling project invites campus community to share learning experiences

“Learning That Transforms: Michigan Stories” is a storytelling and video project inviting U-M students, faculty, and staff to share personal stories about learning.

The project is supported by a grant from the University of Michigan’s Life-Changing Education Initiative. It will explore how learning—whether in a classroom, research lab, workplace, creative project, community, or everyday life—can change how people understand themselves and the world around them.

Participants are invited to develop their learning story in workshops facilitated by acclaimed Detroit storyteller, Satori Shakoor. Born and raised in Detroit, Shakoor has appeared as a Moth Mainstage storyteller and host and has shared stories through PBS, NPR, podcasts and stages around the world. She has also designed and facilitated storytelling workshops for organizations including U-M, Duke University, the Detroit Zoological Society, the Michigan Public Health Institute, the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, the Grace Lee Boggs School, and others. Her 2025 solo storytelling film, “Confessions of a Menopausal Femme Fatale,” is available on major digital platforms.

Learning That Transforms storytelling workshops will be held at the Eileen Lappin Weiser Center for the Learning Sciences in the Marsal Family School of Education Building though the fall and winter. Following the workshops, participants will have the opportunity to record their stories on video or share them at a live storytelling event in spring 2027.  

Members of the U-M community who would like to participate in Shakoor’s workshops may complete a short interest form describing the learning story they would like to explore and indicate their workshop availability.