Documentation and Academic Structure of the Department

The Department of Narrative and Storytelling Studies examines narrative structure and comparative storytelling traditions — how stories are built, transmitted, and used to organize meaning across cultures, distinct from the Department of Literature and Creative Expression, which examines the aesthetic craft of written and creative work.

A community’s stories belong to that community, and research that extracts or retells them without attribution and consent takes something real, whatever the researcher’s academic intent. This Department studies narrative while holding that ownership seriously.

This document establishes the Department’s complete academic and institutional documentation architecture across seven structural layers.

Foundational Framework

Governing Field. Human Formation, examined through the discipline of Narrative and Storytelling Studies — the systematic study of narrative structure and comparative storytelling traditions across cultures.

Central Premise. A story is not raw material free for any researcher to extract, retell, or publish without attribution. A community’s narrative tradition belongs to that community, and studying it responsibly requires the same consent and attribution any other form of intellectual property is owed.

Foundational Theoretical Anchor. The Department operates under the Principle of Linguistic Equity established by the Department of Language and Linguistic Studies, and coordinates closely with the Department of Sociology (Faculty IV, Principle of Non-Extractive Community Research) and the Department of Cultural Studies (Faculty IV, Principle of Cultural Dignity), applying both Departments’ protections to narrative and storytelling research specifically.

Programme List

The Department offers a complete academic ladder from foundational study through doctoral research.

Delivery Framework

The Department is delivered online-first, using structured cohort-based study supported by Module Specifications, Study Guides, Teaching Manuals, and Assessment Briefs for every unit, consistent with the Institute’s established production standard.

Curriculum

The BA (Honours) Narrative and Storytelling Studies curriculum proceeds across four levels, numbered NAR101 through NAR111, following the Institute’s core pedagogical standard: scaffolded progression from structured instruction toward fully independent, attribution-honest narrative research.

Key Pedagogical Standard. Every module moves the learner from structured instruction toward the independent capacity to study and publish narrative research with full attribution and consent — no learner exits the programme retelling a community’s story as though it were the researcher’s own material.

Research Fields and Centres

The Department maintains the following primary research fields:

Centre for Narrative and Storytelling Studies

The Department’s standing research centre, coordinating cross-domain research with the Department of Language and Linguistic Studies, the Department of Sociology (Faculty IV), and the Department of Cultural Studies (Faculty IV).

Assessment and Ethics

Assessment in the Department evaluates a learner’s competence in comparative narrative analysis and their demonstrated fidelity to proper attribution — never a reward for research that retells a community’s story without acknowledging its source or securing its consent.

Because narrative and story carry real ownership belonging to the communities that originate them, the Department applies a dedicated integrity principle.

Award Titles

Public-Facing Department Page

The Department of Narrative and Storytelling Studies is where the Institute studies narrative structure and storytelling traditions — always attributed to the community that originated them, never extracted as raw material. As a sibling Department of Faculty VIII, it holds narrative research to the same ownership standard the Institute applies to community-based research generally.

Learners join a structured academic pathway from Certificate through PhD, moving from guided foundational study toward independent, attribution-honest narrative research, supported at every level by the Institute’s full documentation standard: Module Specifications, Study Guides, Teaching Manuals, and Assessment Briefs.

Permanent Department Documentation Order

The permanent documentation order of the Department, restated for reference:

Delivery Framework Detail

Programme Specification I — Certificate in Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification II — Diploma in Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification III — BA Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification IV — BA (Honours) Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification V — Postgraduate Certificate in Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification VI — Postgraduate Diploma in Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification VII — MA Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification VIII — Specialized Master’s in Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification IX — MRes Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification X — MPhil Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification XI — PhD Narrative and Storytelling Studies

Programme Specification XII — Professional Practice Certificate in Narrative Research and Storytelling Facilitation

Summary Programme Table

A consolidated summary of all twelve programmes offered by the Department.

Credit Framework

The Department applies the Institute’s standard credit framework: one credit represents approximately 10 notional learning hours, inclusive of guided instruction, independent study, narrative research practicum where applicable, and assessment.

Narrative Ownership Ethics Principle

Because narrative and story carry real ownership belonging to the communities that originate them, the Department’s ethical commitments govern every module, practicum, and research activity it authorizes.

This principle governs curriculum design, narrative research practicum, assessment design, and all research conducted across the Department, and stands alongside the Principle of Linguistic Equity (Department of Language and Linguistic Studies), the Principle of Charitable Interpretation (Department of Meaning and Interpretation Studies), the Principle of Sign System Transparency (Department of Symbolic Systems and Semiotics), and the Principle of Dialogic Integrity (Department of Communication Studies) as the fifth ethics principle documented within Faculty VIII.

Tuition Principle

Tuition for every programme is published in full above, with no undisclosed fees. Where a learner’s circumstances warrant it, the Department may offer needs-based tuition adjustment, cohort scholarships, or staged payment plans, at the discretion of the Institute’s admissions and finance offices.

Tuition figures reflect the Institute’s standard credit-based tuition model and are reviewed annually.

Final Delivery and Access Declaration

The Department of Narrative and Storytelling Studies is delivered online-first to maximize access for learners regardless of geographic location, with structured cohort support, complete documentation for every module, and a clear pathway from Certificate through PhD. No learner shall be required to relocate to access any taught programme offered by this Department.

Final Structural Declaration

The Department of Narrative and Storytelling Studies stands as a sibling Department of Faculty VIII, holding narrative research to the ownership and attribution standard every story’s community of origin is owed. Every award, module, and research activity documented above proceeds through the Department’s permanent structural chain:

This chain governs the Department of Narrative and Storytelling Studies now and permanently, coordinated with, and answerable to, the Principle of Linguistic Equity held by the Department of Language and Linguistic Studies.