How can religious, ethical, and spiritual paradigms help us imagine and confront violence? How do the stories we tell help us disrupt cycles of harm? And how can witnesses to injustice create pathways toward healing, genuine justice, and enduring peace? On July 7, Center for Story & Witness co-founders Anne K. Ream and...
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Upcoming workshops, trainings, and events
BEARING WITNESS: A CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION & AUCTION.
Presented by Center for Story & Witness in partnership with Art Works for Change; curated by Randy Jayne Rosenberg in alliance with Tiphanie Spencer-Babinet.
November 7, 2026
Chicago, IL
Event details TBA
THE STORIES WE TELL.
A testimonial writing workshop for survivors of gender-based
violence.
October 10-11, 2026
Simmons Center for Global Chicago Chicago, IL
HOW DO WE WRITE OUR WAY OUT OF THIS?!
A Printers Row Lit Fest panel discussion moderated by Anne K. Ream featuring writers and movement makers Emily Yellin, Atima Omar, Jamia Wilson, Lisa Weinert.
September 12-13, 2026
Prinnters Row Lit Fest Chicago, IL
THE HAROLD WASHINGTON LITERARY AWARDS: A PRINTERS ROW LIT FEST EVENT.
Keynote musician and writer Patti Smith; Co-Chairs Anne K. Ream of Center for Story & Witness & Rosellen Brown of Art Institute of Chicago to give opening remarks.
September 10, 2026
The Union League Club
Chicago, IL
CREATIVE INTERRUPTION: THE THEOLOGY OF PEACE CONFERENCE.
Center for Story & Witness co-founders Anne K. Ream and R. Clifton Spargo and ethicist and theologian Wolfgang Palaver are keynote presenters.
July 7, 2026
9A – 5P CST
DePaul Center
Chicago, IL
AI FOR PEACE IN THE GLOBAL RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: A DAY LONG CONFERENCE ON THE MARGINS OF THE UN’s 70TH SESSION OF COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN.
Organized by Apne Aap, Microsoft and AI for Good; Anne K. Ream, Center for Story & Witness, is a featured panelist.
March 11, 2026
Microsoft, Times Square
New York City, NY
(or online)
SIXTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LAW CONFERENCE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN.
Keynote Speaker: The Honorable Esther Salas, United States District Court Judge; Anne K. Ream, Center for Story & Witness, to receive the 2026 Epiq Women Award for Justice and Advocacy.
March 10, 2026
New York City Bar Association
New York City, NY
TELL THE STORY, BE THE CHANGE: A presentation on the power of storytelling in partnership with the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX).
Feb. 11, 2026
Virtual
Closed Event
The latest news
News archives
Can music help us make sense of our moment?
It’s a mad, mad world for a woman. A noisy one, too. Here a “shut up and sit down,” there the procreationist directive to “hurry up and have children,” everywhere a cacophony of voices reminding the “Second Sex” of the...
READ MORE ❯Art, memory, and resistance. What does AI have to do with it?
AI for Peace in the Global Response to Violence Against Women and Girls – a day long conference on the margins of the 70th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women – brought together global human rights...
READ MORE ❯Heartbreak & Hope: Our 2025 year-end report.
At a time when funding for survivor-centered organizations is tightening, public conversations about basic rights are increasingly polarized, and those...
READ MORE ❯Bearing literary witness at Yale University’s Jackson School.
Today, more than ever, the stories of those most impacted by social injustice need to be heard. But how do...
READ MORE ❯Using Story to Change the World, and Transform Ourselves: A Printers Row Lit Fest dialogue.
We know from history and social justice movements that stories are among our most powerful tools for creating social change....
READ MORE ❯Writer, reader, force: What Sandra Cisneros means to us.
When Sandra Cisneros, an icon of American arts and letters, received the 2025 Harold Washington Literary Award last month, book...
READ MORE ❯The future isn’t going to write itself: Our conversation about story, social justice and the art of bearing witness.
Today, more than ever, the voices of those most impacted by social injustice need to be heard. But how do...
READ MORE ❯The Stories We Tell is heading to Dallas Sept. 13 & 14. Apply today!
Developed to help those who have lived through or witnessed gender-based violence or other human rights violations use their voices,...
READ MORE ❯Get involved with Center for Story & Witness
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