Building Stories

The Creation of the new Residential College in Arts and Humanities

If a carpenter built a cabin for poets, I think the least the poets owe the carpenter is just three or four one-liners on the wall.

— "Mike LeFevre" in Working by Studs Terkel

This fall, the doors of the Snyder-Phillips complex will open to receive the inaugural class of the new Residential College in the Arts and Humanities. That these new and newly restored facilities are able to receive the first students of the College is the result of the contributions over the past two years of hundreds of workers. As we continue to build the new College, we also will be recording and commemorating this exciting work in a multifaceted project called Building Stories.

Building Stories is a compilation of the individual stories of the many people who have been and will be involved in building the RCAH and also a way of writing the story of the College as a whole. We may start with "one-liners", but we have our sights set much higher.

There are two inspirations for Building Stories. One is Studs Terkel's famous oral history, Working (1972). The quotation from Working is from the story of a construction worker, "Mike Levevre." In this interview, he comments on the routine and tiring work he does, the stereotypes others have of construction workers, and most of all his hopes for his own children. At the same time he clearly takes pride in his work and would like to be able to have his signature on those parts of the Chicago skyscrapers he's worked on so that he can point them out to his children.¹ What makes this and the other stories in Working so moving is the candid way in which each person describes his or her own search for meaning in life and the value they find or would like to find in the work they do. It is not a romantic evocation of vanishing crafts and skills, but rather their own reflections on the real work and the real aspirations that keep them going.

In designing Building Stories, we have been guided by Terkel's respect for individuals he has interviewed and the importance to them of the opportunity he has given to them to speak their minds frankly about what has become their life's work. One thing this means for us as we write the story of the RCAH is inviting our subjects to talk about how their work on the RCAH and on similar projects fits into their life as a whole. We want them to talk about the details of the work - how they do what they do - but also what it means within the larger contexts of family, neighborhood, community, and country. For some this may mean thinking about the possibility that their own children or grandchildren might attend the RCAH. It may mean thinking about the role that the RCAH can and should play in the beleaguered Michigan economy. It may mean thinking about MSU's mission to be a global university.

The other inspiration for Building Stories is the National Public Radio program StoryCorps. This is a project designed to let ordinary citizens tell their own stories to one another and record them so that others may hear. The "vision" is at once grand and well within the reach of ordinary citizens.

StoryCorps celebrates our shared humanity and collective identity. It captures and defines the stories that bond us. The process of interviewing a friend, neighbor, or family member can have a profound impact on both the interviewer and the storyteller. People change, friendships grow, families walk away feeling closer and understanding each other better. Listening, after all, is an act of love.²

Building Stories aspires to a similar goal: to build friendships and a sense of community across the occupational and generational divides that typically mark our educational experiences.

We envision a project that will continue beyond the initial construction phase. The RCAH, like any college, is defined by the space it occupies, but it is not reducible to that space. Just as Building Stories will create a way for today's workers and tomorrow's students and faculty to remain in touch with one another, it also will be a way for future workers in the RCAH, future students, and future graduates to write the next chapters of the College.

Building Stories, then, is a process that can occur in many ways. For those who choose to participate, there will be opportunities through some sections of our regular creative workshops and writing courses. There will be ample time for casual conversations among students, workers, and their families. We will tell our stories on blogs on this web site, through musical performances and on stage in dramatic re-enactments, and on paper and canvas on exhibit in our gallery. Building Stories, if we can sustain this momentum, will be at once an archive, a celebration, and a living conversation.

To mark the beginning of this process, we will host an evening get-together early in fall semester in the College for students, faculty, staff, and workers and their families to express our appreciation for the work already done and the gift we have been given: an educational opportunity to live and learn in a place that values imagination, mutual respect, and a concern for the common good.