Sociology alumnus honored for creating WooStories program
This fall,Jisou“Armel” Lee ’19 wasԲa recipientofthe inaugural Luce24 under 24award forWooStories,asmall-group conversationalworkshophe initiatedduring his time atTheCollegeof Wooster.According to The J. Luce Foundation’s website,the awardrecognizes “young game-changers under 24 who are making innovative contributions to humanity.”In response, Leeappreciated the honorbecause it allowed him a voice to showcase the successes ofWooStories,whichpreviously wereonly availableto the College community. “The Foundation allowed me andWooStoriestotake amoveforwardfromonlyremaining local,”he said.
The programallowsmembers of the Woostercommunitytoshare their storiesinspaces on campuswhile also participating in a follow-up conversationwith the audience.“In the storytelling session, speakerswithdifferent backgrounds, experiences and thoughts share their personal stories with their audience[uninterrupted],” Lee said. “When the storytelling is over,the participants move on to the conversation session where the audience can freely ask questions to thespeakers, address their thoughts and opinions, and share similar experiences or their personal stories.” The idea forWooStoriescame from Lee’s interest in the Human Library Organization, aninternational group that promotesinclusion by recognizing every person’s experience as story or book.He heard about it after attending the Youth Activist Summer Program in his home country of South Koreawhere they organized asimilar,mock human library.“During the program, I recognized that as people share their personal narratives, the conversation quicklyreachesadepth we can hardlyhavewith our acquaintancesin our daily lives,” Lee said. “I experienced how deeply we cancome tounderstand each other regardless of any differences we have in our backgrounds.” After attending this program, he realized thatthis programwouldworkwell at Wooster because of its welcoming, friendly community. knew that people at Wooster pay attention to other people’s stories,” he said.
Lee starteddevelopingWooStoriesduring his sophomore yearafter returning from the summer program in South Korea. Withhelp fromstudents, faculty,and staff across campus, he presentedit as aworkshop for the 2017 Great Lakes CollegesAssociation(GLCA)Student of Color Leadership Conference.After finding success at the conference, Lee decided to officially bringWooStoriesto Wooster.“Overall, my team and I organized 11 events, and in these 11 events, wehad more than30speakers and more than 250 audience participants,” he said.Additionally, they raised $2,900 worth of funds, grants, and sponsorship from theGLCA and offices on campus. Lee appreciated the support he received from the College for his entrepreneurship.
After analyzing the impacts ofWooStoriesfor his I.S., the sociology majorlearnedthat this storytelling process is important for both theaudienceand thespeakerbecause itfosters a better understanding of empathy and humanity.“When people get to know enough about somebody, including their backgrounds, thoughts,and experiences,” Leeexplained that they“understand the person because they know what decisions the person made in certain situations—how they didand why they did.”Healso emphasized thatWooStoriesallowed the storyteller to wrestle with bothpositiveand negativeexperiencesin their lives.n this process, they encounter not just bright memories but the ones of suffering, wandering or even trauma,” he said. “Thisis what composes their storyandwhat the audienceengageswith.”
Above: For his I.S., Jisou “Armel” Lee ’19 interviewed the Human Library Organization’s program coordinator in Copenhagen.
Posted in Alumni on December 8, 2020.
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