Links
A key aspect of our mission at CIRN is to help researchers and practitioners in various disciplines learn about activities, initiatives, and opportunities related to narrative that are happening elsewhere in the world. To that end, we have an ongoing project to provide information about other academic narrative centres; societies and networks; programs; and practice centres. If we have missed something, please contact us!
UNIVERSITY CENTRES
Center for Narratological Studies, University of Southern Denmark
"The Center for Narratological Studies is a research unit at the Institute of Literature, Media and Cultural Studies, University of Southern Denmark. The purpose of the unit is to explore narrative in all its aspects, but with special interest in theoretical issues. This is done by collective and individual research projects, seminars, conferences, exchanges and publications."
Centre for Narrative and Auto/Biographical Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK
“The Centre for Narrative & Auto/Biographical Studies (NABS) is an interdisciplinary virtual research centre at the University of Edinburgh. NABS brings together people interested in all aspects of narrative and all forms of auto/biographical representation, from talk to transcribed text, from photographs to memorial sites, from verbal introductions to hagiography, from letters and cards to friends to memoirs and autobiographies, from obituaries to painted portraits, from academic biography to sculpture, and more.”
Centre for Narrative Research, University of East London, UK
“The Centre for Narrative Research (CNR) is the leading international centre for narrative work in the social sciences. CNR aims to generate and develop innovative narrative research of all kinds, and to bring narrative researchers from all over the world into productive dialogue. CNR draws on narrative research from across the social sciences and beyond. It is founded in interdisciplinarity; it includes researchers from psychological, sociological, anthropological, cultural and media studies, humanities, arts and performance research traditions. The Centre supports research on spoken, written and visual narratives. It fosters collaborations between its members, associates and advisors, and provides a forum for researchers in applied and policy settings, as well as academics and graduate students.”
Center for the Study of Narrative and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University, US
“The Center for the Study of Narrative and Conflict Resolution (CNCR) is a newly chartered center at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. It provides a hub for research, conversations on practice, workshops and consultations, connecting the research on narrative and conflict to the practice of narrative intervention in conflicts. We offer academic courses, workshops, research seminars (open to the public), as well as consultation to organizations and agencies. Additionally, CNCR's journal, Narrative and Conflict: Explorations in Theory and Practice, anchors the research conversation on narrative within the field of conflict analysis and resolution.”
Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative and Histories, University of Brighton, UK
“Drawing on long-standing research strengths in humanities, arts and social sciences at the University of Brighton, the Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative and Histories brings together researchers with related and complementary interests, providing a focus for research development and a platform for engagement with the wider academic community.
Emphasising the plural 'histories', the Centre engages with research on the complex relationships between present and past, dealing for example with subordinate and marginalised histories, archive practices and the complexities of popular memory. Research collaboration draws on scholarship in a range of disciplines including history, cultural studies, literary studies, sociology, cultural and human geography, visual studies, performance studies, critical theory, psycho-social studies, critical heritage studies, social anthropology, and narrative theory. The Centre promotes dialogue about the methodological, theoretical and political issues involved in the study of memory, narrative and the making of histories, resulting in an institutional focus which embraces creative and critical practice, and encompasses academic, professional and community development. It explores the relations, and facilitates links, between academic scholarship and the work of other practitioners and stakeholders involved in making histories, in representing the past, and in producing forms of remembrance and commemoration.”
Center for the Study of Narrative, Penfield College of Mercer University, US
“The Center for the Study of Narrative (CSN) is a multidisciplinary service and research initiative, housed within the Mercer’s Penfield College and the Department of Counseling and Human Sciences, provides a forum for citizens to tell unique personal stories while giving students theoretical and practical training in such skills as writing and storytelling, active listening, genealogical construction, and techniques of narrative analysis. CSN and brings together the fields/programs of communications, psychology, sociology, human services, literary studies and writing, historical studies, and counseling. CSN supports the following activities: service learning and community outreach; scholarships and grants for narrative research conducted by faculty and/or doctoral students; and experiential travel.”
Interdisciplinary Centre for Narrative Studies, University of York, UK
“The ICNS exists to focus the extraordinary range of work relating to narratives and narrative theory at York. It brings together researchers in the humanities, sciences and social sciences, and it bridges the full historical range of period studies within the humanities. We approach collaborative and interdisciplinary research as dialogue rather than synthesis, so that the exchange of ideas feeds back into the specific research fields of the participants. Our networks extend a long way beyond the York academic community; if you are interested in being involved, do get in touch.”
Interdisciplinary Center for Narratology, University of Hamburg, Germany
“The Interdisciplinary Center for Narratology (ICN) is attached to the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Hamburg. Through the ICN, the internationally recognized expertise of the Narratology Research Group (Forschergruppe Narratologie / FGN) contributes to the development of a narratological centre of excellence, informs teaching practice, and provides new means for blended learning.”
Life Narrative Research Group, Kingston University, UK
“The purpose of LNR is to bring best practice across all genres of life narrative work together in one physical and virtual space. LNR provides a network for life writers and life narrative scholars in every discipline from creative writing to social science to literature, politics and human rights, to initiate research projects, host events, and produce publications centred on the experience, methodology and formats of life narratives across written, visual, and virtual cultures.”
Narrare: Centre for Interdisciplinary Narrative Studies, University of Tampere, Finland
“The research centre Narrare: Centre for Interdisciplinary Narrative Studies draws together the narrative studies conducted at the different schools of the University of Tampere. Furthermore, it functions as a platform for national and international collaboration in interdisciplinary narrative studies. Narrare, the Latin verb for ‘to narrate’, is derived from the adjective gnarus, which refers both to having knowledge of a thing and to being skilful. The research centre approaches narrative as a mode of knowing, as a socially and culturally conditioned practice of sense-making, and as an art, exploring how different narrative forms of representation shape and transform our ways of seeing the world.”
Project Narrative, Ohio State University, US
“Project Narrative (PN) is a cluster of faculty, visiting scholars, and graduate students who work on narrative and narrative theory. With nine core faculty and over forty affiliated faculty from across the humanities and social sciences at OSU, we offer an extensive community of narrative scholars unparalleled anywhere else in the United States. Project Narrative sponsors lectures, colloquia, and conferences at OSU, bringing specialists from all over the world to discuss developments in narrative theory. Every year we host Visiting Scholars as well as the Project Narrative Summer Institute, a professional development opportunity for faculty and advanced graduate students wanting to explore the usefulness of narrative theory in their teaching and research.”
Story Lab, Centre for eHealth & Wellbeing Research, University of Twente, The Netherlands
“People use stories to give meaning to their personal experiences. We study how technology supports resilient stories that promote health and well-being. We use technology to analyse how such stories are told. And we use stories in the design of meaningful technologies. Our narrative approach thus provides people with a voice that counts in the complex world of health and care.”
ACADEMIC SOCIETIES
American Educational Research Association Narrative Research Special Interest Group
“The Narrative Research SIG (Special Interest Group) of AERA is dedicated to supporting conversations about the place of narratives in educational research including but not limited to phenomenological, literary, critical, and performance conceptions of narrative analysis.The purpose of the Narrative Research SIG is to provide a forum for the exchange of information among individuals interested in informing/rethinking narrative research through a variety of narrative research studies in/with participants in a variety of educational settings.”
“The European Narratology Network (ENN) is an association of individual narratologists and narratological institutions. Our focus is predominantly, but not exclusively, 'European' in the sense of our object domain (narrative representation in literature, film, digital media, etc., across all Europpean languages and cultures), and our institutional affiliation (universities, research institutions, and interesxt groups based in one of the European countries).
International Society for the Study of Narrative
“The International Society for the Study of Narrative (ISSN) is a nonprofit association of scholars dedicated to the investigation of narrative, its elements, techniques, and forms; its relations to other modes of discourse; its power and influence in cultures past and present. ‘Narrative’ for us is a category that may include the novel, epic poetry, history, biography, autobiography, film, the graphic arts, music, performance, legal writing, medical case histories, and more. The Society sponsors the International Conference on Narrative each year.”
International Society for Folk Narrative Research
“The International Society for Folk Narrative Research is a scholarly and professional organization of international specialists in the areas of folk narrative, popular literature, folklore, and related fields. According to its statutes, the Society’s main goal is "to develop scholarly work in the field of folk narrative research and to stimulate contacts and the exchange of views among its members." Acknowledging developments in the field, this goal has broadened in recent years to covering all aspects of narrative as representing the pivotal category of human communication.”
Nordic Network of Narrative Studies
“The Nordic Network of Narrative Studies [is] a project that unites a group of narratologists from the Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Estonia. The network was formally founded at a meeting at Tartu University, Estonia in February 2007 and aims at bringing together different strands of Nordic based research on narrative production and use. This aim is pursued through meetings, workshops and conferences.”
PROGRAMS OF STUDY
Institute of Narrative Therapy, United Kingdom
“The Institute of Narrative Therapy has been established to support the highest standards of practice, teaching and research into narrative therapy. It acts as a central regulated body of knowledge and expertise, offering information and consultation about narrative therapy training and supervision. The Institute aims to contribute to the regulation of the profession and enhance the standards in psychotherapy through increased provision of good quality skill-based training courses.”
Program in Narrative Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, US
“Through narrative training, the Program in Narrative Medicine helps physicians, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals, chaplains, social workers, academics, and all those interested in the intersection between narrative and medicine improve the effectiveness of care by developing these skills with patients and colleagues. Our research and outreach missions are conceptualizing, evaluating, and spear-heading these ideas and practices nationally and internationally.”
Narrative Therapy Training, Counseling and Guidance Program, California State University, US
“At CSUSB Counseling and Guidance Program, we offer a distinctive orientation that incorporates postmodern ideas and creates opportunities for students who are particularly interested in learning about narrative counseling practices. We are one of a few institutions in the world that offer this training as a part of a formal degree program. We offer a number of classes that draw upon the specific body of ideas, skills and approaches that emerge from constructionist and postmodern theories. For students who are curious about narrative, there are many points of possible introduction to these innovative ideas. This can happen in your very first CSUSB class, Introduction to Counseling. The theories are picked up and developed in the practicum classes as well as in the counseling theory class, and the group counseling class. In addition, you might be interested in attending a monthly Narrative and Pizza Seminar or taking advantage of further training and attending conferences about narrative therapy. In the near future, research opportunities will be offered to dovetail with students’ interests in developing and writing about particular topics from a narrative perspective.”
Program in Law and Humanities, School of Law, University of Virginia, US
“Law school teaches students to ‘think like lawyers,’ but what exactly does that mean? Presumably, it at least means learning to make and respond to arguments within the constraints of the law. But which materials count as legitimate sources of law, what values does the law embody and what methods are appropriate to the task of discerning its meaning are always questions open to debate. In other words, the law is an essentially interpretive intellectual and social practice. The Program in Law and Humanities is dedicated to deepening and broadening our understanding of this practice. It does so largely by exploring connections between law and such "humanistic" disciplines as philosophy, literature and politics. Like law, these disciplines wrestle with difficult questions of interpretation, evidence and value in their respective domains. Cross-disciplinary teaching and research in these fields both facilitates better understanding of the law and also points to ways in which the study of law may contribute to the humanities.”
Program in Narrative and Healthcare Humanities, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
“Our hospital-based initiative has been well-recognized over the last ten years within the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Over time, an informal, yet ongoing, humanities and literature discussion group, "Psychiatry film nights", for staff and residents and dialogue within Grand Rounds have become vital parts of our Department. We now have monthly "Narrative and Humanities" lunchtime seminars, which have covered topics like Mindfulness in the Hospital Setting, the graphic novel as a teaching tool and "Poisons in Opera". These have been well attended by staff and students from all disciplines and teaching hospitals as well as humanities scholars. More recent developments have been the emergence of clinical therapeutic writing models for patients living with chronic illness and narrative-based approaches to Consultation-Liaison and Crisis Care. . . . In 2005, Ars Medica: A Journal of Medicine, the Arts and Humanities was founded within our Department. Published twice per year, the journal is the only publication of its kind in Canada, and has developed an international readership. . . . Stay tuned for details on new courses and workshops being offered in healthcare humanities and narrative-based medicine at the University of Toronto.”
Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy, Canada
“The Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy was the first Narrative Therapy training centre opened in the Northern Hemisphere. The VSNT goal is to provide a home for newly inspired Narrative Therapy training—brought to you through the politic and practice of our 25 year apprenticeship with David Epston, Michael White and the Just Therapy Team. The VSNT faculty stand in a variety of diverse social locations and - each member is respected internationally for their longstanding therapeutic and teaching know how. Our intensive Narrative theory and practice certificate courses are taught at the novice, intermediate and advanced levels.”
NARRATIVE PRACTICE CENTRES & ASSOCIATIONS
Narrative Practices Adelaide, Australia
"The Adelaide Narrative Therapy Centre has been established for the further development of narrative practice. This centre will provide counselling services to the community, and training workshops on a range of topics relevant to work with individuals, couples, families, groups and communities. It will also provide a context for exploring the implications, for counselling practice, of recent developments in the fields of social and human enquiry."
Dulwich Center, Adelaide, Australia
“Dulwich Centre . . . is one of the key ‘homes’ of narrative practice. We are involved in narrative therapy, community work, training, publishing, supporting practitioners in different parts of the world, and co-hosting international conferences. . . . We hope this website acts as a gateway to information about narrative therapy and collective narrative practice. You will also find here articles to read, books and journals to purchase, and training events and conferences to attend.”
Center for Narrative Practice, Boston, US
“At the Center for Narrative Practice we believe that stories are the primordial means through which we make sense of and convey the meaning of our lives. We believe stories can be a tool for healing, for teaching, for sharing and connecting. We believe that creativity can be learned, and practiced, and can change the way persons live in the world. We believe that critical, skilled attention to stories and storytelling in all of its forms is and ought to be recognized as a part of all disciplines, and that narrative practice can and does lead toward openness and healing. The Center aims to provide pedagogy, partnerships, and resources; offer education and training in the tools of narrative practice and in further application of these tools; and provide a space for these ideas and endeavors to gather, grow and cross pollinate. Through narrative practice, we aim to aid the world in becoming a more humane, accepting, and moral place, and to aid individuals in becoming more engaged participants in their lives and careers.”
Center for Narrative Studies, Washington, DC, US
“The Center works with groups and organizations. We train people to become leaders by teaching them to understand the power of stories, to weigh the real effects stories have in shaping our lives, and to apply narrative approaches to engage creatively with conflict and change. We help participants understand how story works and how to work stories.”
“Re-authoring Teaching is a global learning community of narrative therapy practitioners, teachers and enthusiasts from around the world. Our name is a twist on “reauthoring conversations,” otherwise associated with narrative therapy. We began in 2008, shortly after Michael White’s death, with the vision of creating opportunities for the community to continue learning from and sharing knowledge with another. What began as an online study group (The Narrative Practice & Collaborative Inquiry Study Group) has evolved into a blend of online and in-person offerings.”