Jon McKenzie is Professor of Practice and Director of StudioLab, a critical design and media lab at Cornell University that connects researchers, designers, and organizations working in human rights, public health, and social and environmental justice. StudioLab teams collaborate on strategic storytelling through transmedia knowledge, using performance design thinking as a human-centered, iterative process of stakeholder alignment and shared dreaming. Jon is the author of Transmedia Knowledge for Liberal Arts and Community Engagement: A StudioLab Manifesto (2019) and Perform or Else: From Discipline to Performance (2001), and he holds degrees in Fine Arts, English, and Performance Studies and has also worked as a writer and UX designer in NYC. He is founder and former director of DesignLab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and co-founder of the performance group McKenzie Stojnić. In addition to workshops and consulting, Jon produces experimental videos, lecture performances, and other media. His work and that of StudioLab can be found at labster8.net.
Course Overview
How can you convey one message but to different stakeholders? The challenge is that what appeals to a lawyer, for example, might not be relevant to a nurse. The key to this often-perplexing roadblock is strategic storytelling through transmedia. This practice uses strategic storytelling to convey your message to stakeholders across various forms of media, both print and digital.
In this course, you will gain a clear definition and examples of both strategic storytelling and transmedia knowledge. You will walk through various professional campaigns to explore the process and identify each piece of strategic storytelling. Throughout the course, you will put into practice the techniques and principles of both of these modalities in order to help you better reach your stakeholders, whomever they may be. By the end of this course, you will have a solid foundation to move forward with transmediating your knowledge to reach new stakeholders and make an impact.
Key Course Takeaways
- Identify strategic storytelling and transmedia knowledge
- Review professional campaigns to identify key elements
- Identify and analyze different genres of transmedia knowledge
- Examine different design frames used in transmedia knowledge
- Apply the CAT design frame to strategic storytelling
How It Works
Course Author
Who Should Enroll
- Marketers and brand managers
- Community-based educators
- Grant writers
- Communication leaders in fields such as healthcare, environment, and public policy
- Executives
- Communications consultants
- Individuals seeking to better communicate their ideas and build a professional identity
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