Understanding another person’s story: Using personal, community, global, and universal narratives to teach arts and humanities

Narratives help situate arts and humanities—exploring the creation of artifacts as well as providing space for making sense of the world. Narratives can preserve the original context as well as recontextualize art in light of contemporary political and social issues. Personal, community, global, and universal narratives can make art more accessible and memorable to students. Four well-known pieces of art created over 550 years serve as models for ways narratives can be the focus of teaching arts and humanities to encourage engagement, comprehension, retention, and memory.