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Storytelling and Gender Equity with Dr. Leah Flack
Storytelling and Gender Equity with Dr. Leah Flack
Dr. Leah Flack is a professor of English at Marquette University and a member of the global nonprofit Narrative Four, which creates safe spaces through structured events called story exchanges where people can exchange meaningful stories and learn to listen deeply to each other.
In this episode, Flack shares her passion for storytelling and how it has shaped her career, from finding her path in literature classes to emphasizing the significance of shared stories in cultural moments like the #metoo movement.
Tune in to hear this thought-provoking discussion about experiences that encourage storytelling and empathy, as well as how to uplift women’s voices.
Episode Highlights
01: 51 - I think that I was born into this work. As a kid, I saw myself growing up in stories inside of the books that I was reading. And I look back on that and I'm really grateful for it because I think that I grew up inside of books, and that was powerful for me. I was a first generation girl who was in a family where there was no expectation for me to go to college. But reading all of the time showed me that the world was bigger than I realized and that I could be more than the stories I was hearing about my future.
12:53 - There are all kinds of studies that show that women don't receive the same level of care as men, particularly women of color. And so the larger question becomes how can we insist that we be heard and that we be heard accurately and fully so that we can get not only the kind of attention and credit that we deserve but also the care in life or death situations? So my hope is that if women can learn to tell their stories, to value their stories and to really create spaces for one another to tell their stories that they will have that skill when it really matters.
15:58 - I think that by opening our campus to a wider constituency, to inviting women from the community onto campus that we can learn from them, we can learn from their experiences. There's lots of different kinds of expertise. We can get a sense of kind of where are the vulnerable places and support research that will address those areas, and we can make research available to them that will be useful in their roles as leaders in the community.
Connect with Becky Dubin Jenkins
Connect with Dr. Leah Flack
Institute for Women's Leadership
Bio
Leah Flack, Ph.D., is a professor of English who has published two books and several articles emerging from her interest in the ways language and storytelling have facilitated powerful acts of self-expression and social rebellion in a global context, from the ancient world through the #metoo movement. The recipient of Marquette’s Raynor Award for Teaching Excellence, she is passionate about finding new ways to help students discover the value and joy of stories, including their own stories. A researcher in transnational modernism, she enjoys teaching classes on Russian and Irish literature, the epic tradition, and modern literature. She is a participant in the Ignatian Colleagues Program run by the AJCU to educate and immerse leaders from American Jesuit universities in the traditions and values of Jesuit and Catholic higher education. Flack serves as the faculty director for the campus chapter of the global nonprofit Narrative 4, where she serves on the National University Advisory Board, and previously was chair of the Marquette English Department.
