COUNTER STORYTELLING: HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN GENRE

In this course, students will take on the process of constructing their own unique interdisciplinary storytelling practices that both challenge oppressive, hegemonic narratives and honors each student’s heritage, identities, and unique experiences. Through weekly reflections, counter-hegemonic art, and community discussions, this course delves into the praxis of “counter-storytelling,” or storytelling that reflects marginalized experiences and histories in a way that challenges mainstream narratives. The heart of this course lies in weekly journal entries on experiences that shaped our lives or manifestations for the world we hope to organize towards, inspired by assigned texts, music videos, albums, online art exhibitions, and more. Assigned materials include the “Mustafa - Name of God” official music video, articles on Kara Walker's "A Subtlety" sculpture, Solange's Saint Heron Community Library, Bad Bunny's "DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS" album, and excerpts from Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.” Activities like concept mapping and writing sprints will help students complete the ongoing project of the course: to construct a working definition of a new genre that honors each student’s identity, melds their interdisciplinary pursuits, articulates their political values, and seeks to cement their work into the canon of today’s artistic landscape.
Tuesdays, 6-8 PM EST (3-5 PM PST)
​Online on Zoom
120 minute sessions, 5 weeks
February 3rd - March 3rd, 2026
$125 - $375 Tuition
Select scholarships and solidarity rate discounts available upon request.

INSTRUCTORS

Carter/Yunyu Teng Writing under the pen name Yunyu Teng, Carter draws from her origins in Manchuria and childhood in the American South to write in the self-termed genre of Sino Gothic, a descendant of Southern Gothic literature exploring themes of diaspora, family, and placemaking and colored by elements of the supernatural and Chinese mythology. Some of her previous writing work includes meditations on ethnofuturism and ethnopessimism, as well as journeys into multilingual writing, horror, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her fiction has been published in "Gluttony: Swim Press Issue 09," "Color Theory: A GSWS Zine," and a self-published digital zine created in collaboration with “Slant’d” titled, “When I Leave My Body Stays | 我走了心还在.” Throughout all of her work, Carter maintains a strong commitment to canonizing Chinese American stories and reimagining radical, alternative realities for diasporic communities. She is currently a first-year student in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at The New School.

​Learn more about her work at @chrysanthemumbreath on Instagram and at carterteng.wordpress.com.
Image credit: Faye Wong/Wang Fei's 1998 "Sing and Play" album