2024 Forum - The Human Touch
Storytelling and trust in a world of bots, bad actors, and AI
Saturday, September 21, 2024
11 am – 5 pm EDT
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The Joyce Cummings Center
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155
About
The Human Touch: Storytelling and trust in a world of bots, bad actors, and AI is the second in ISIG’s flagship Power of Storycraft series, this forum will bring together experts in journalism, writing, audio and visual media, and communications. Participants will share insights on gathering, evaluating, and sharing information accurately and fairly and telling compelling nonfiction stories.
Program Highlights
The one-day forum will offer panels and workshops across three forum themes: Gathering and Evaluating Information; Nonfiction Storytelling, and Leading and Collaborating in the Information Industries. Below are the topics in development, including a pre-forum workshop. At the end of the program, attendees and speakers will be encouraged to socialize and network.
Keynote Speaker - Elliot Ackerman
Elliot Ackerman is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels as well as the memoir The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan, and Places and Names: On War, Revolution and Returning. His books have been nominated for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal in both fiction and nonfiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize among others. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and Marine veteran who served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart. He divides his time between New York City and Washington, D.C.
Pre-forum Workshop & Breakfast
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
​How to Get Anyone to Talk about Anything: Tips and Techniques for Revealing Interviews
Featuring
Sarah Sobieraj, Professor, Department of Sociology, Tufts University
Powerful interviews are the backbone of nonfiction narratives that captivate audiences. In this small group, interactive workshop, learn how to conduct revealing interviews that are essential for compelling storytelling in research, journalism, and filmmaking. Practice developing evocative questions that draw out people's unique thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Find out how to build rapport with interviewees, even when asking about sensitive topics.
Welcome and Breakout Sessions
1:00 - 2:00 pm
A Study Says What? Simple Strategies to Decipher Data
[Track: Gathering and Evaluating Information]
No matter the subject – medicine, political preferences, nutrition, climate change – you are bound to encounter a new study or survey that sounds really important. Readers, writers, and storytellers all need tools to make sense of study findings and to decipher the studies themselves. This session will offer practical guidance for all comers, regardless of your college major or mathematical skills.
Panelists:
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Rosanna Xia, A’11, environmental reporter, The Los Angeles Times
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Adam Gismondi, Senior Director, DKP Learn (the Democratic Knowledge Project), Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
Secrets of the Super-Sleuths: How to Do Deep Research that Leads to Remarkable Stories
[Track: Nonfiction Storytelling]
Some writers and researchers are adept at digging deep into a subject and uncovering revelatory information, sometimes from far in the past. In this session, learn how to conduct full-immersion research that forms the basis for remarkable storytelling.
Panelists:
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Emma Rose Brown, A’17 reporter and researcher
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Jennifer Burton, Professor of the Practice, Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, Tufts University
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Shaan Merchant, A’19, writer, researcher, producer
Keynote
2:20 - 3:05 pm
Elliot Ackerman, A’03 F’03 contributing writer, The Atlantic; bestselling author, decorated combat veteran
Interviewed by Brad Hamilton, A’86 investigative journalist and president of the Institute for Storycraft and Information Gathering
Town Hall Session
3:15 - 4:00 pm
Friend or Frenemy? AI and the Future of Storytelling Careers
[Track: Leading and Collaborating in the Information Industries]
Jobs in communications and media are among those most exposed to advances in artificial intelligence. But how will they change? Our speakers and panelists return to the stage for a town hall-style conversation about how they use AI, how jobs and audience expectations are evolving, and the questions that need to be answered.
Moderator: Abbie Lundberg, Editor in Chief, MIT Sloan Management Review
Meet the Speakers
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Grab a snack and mingle with the day’s speakers and other attendees.