“The presentation was affirming… I feel more confident about standing up for my ideas now than I did before.”
-Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“I find the film and the MSP very compelling. I was vaguely aware of these issues before, but this presentation has allowed me to see the cut and dry reality, and to be more critical of my own actions as well as the actions of other men.”
-Chris Fernandez, President, Intrafraternity Council, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Love that your presentations and MSP is deeply rooted in research and empirical evidence as well as emotional response! Can’t wait to participate this year, but REALLY can’t wait for the years of MSP at UO in the years to come.”
-Keith Frazee, Assistant Director of Orientation Programs, University of Oregon

“Dr. Lehrer is a very effective speaker and a skilled workshop facilitator. The day-long workshop I co-led with Dr. Lehrer using the Men’s Story Project film, here at JFK University, was very successful in stimulating a moving and educational discussion on the social construction of masculinity and pain and violence associated with it…”
–Gary Hoeber, Assoc. Professor of Counseling Psychology, John F. Kennedy University

“I appreciated the honesty among the men. The safe environment was very effective for the compassion and love shared and felt.”
–Workshop participant, JFK University

“I loved ALL OF IT! The film clips were AMAZING and fostered a really deep, rich dialogue. My heart is full and open!”
–Workshop participant, JFK University

“This was the first time I have really shared my experience of my own masculinity in a public way. I was able to explore the pain I have around my masculinity, discover my own healing process, and then share this process with my community. Being able to share in such a brutally honest and vulnerable way was an effective approach to presenting my experience with the community.”
-MSP presenter

“It was liberating to speak to a common experience that is an unspoken reality for most men.”
-MSP presenter

The webinars will discuss the nexus of masculinities, health and justice; how to help presenters craft powerful personal stories; recruiting presenters and co-sponsoring organizations; MSP group process (e.g., story circles, community-building); working with men who have perpetrated violence; legal/ethical issues and safety; program evaluation; and media creation. The webinars will be recorded and stored online for access anytime.

The MSP Training Guide is a step-by-step, 65-page toolkit that discusses the MSP’s research background and educational approach; how to help presenters craft powerful stories; group facilitation; event production; creating MSP films and social media; how to work with men who have used violence; legal/ethical issues and harm prevention; and other topics. It provides helpful editable templates including a Call for Submissions, event introduction, press release, and feedback forms for audience members and presenters.

The Guide builds upon research and best practices in areas including gender-transformative public health programming; intersectional research on men and masculinities; personal storytelling; social and behavior change communication; entertainment-education; movement-building; and program design and evaluation.

The MSP License is a legal document that lets groups use the MSP name and logo, join the MSP network, connect with other MSP groups, and share their work on the MSP website and other social media. It includes guidelines on ethics, legality and safety, and a Presenter Release form - a legal document for MSP presenters that addresses media permission as well as liability issues that can arise when men publicly share personal stories on crime and other sensitive topics. To see a copy, please contact us.

To give you a sense of what goes into creating an MSP production, here are the main things your team would be doing over the course of 4-6 months. (This info is focused on college campuses; community groups would follow a similar path except for the campus organizing elements.)

• Form an MSP team of 2+ production leads and 2 playshop facilitators (4 total)
• Identify 2 or more campus co-sponsoring groups (e.g., Sexual Assault Prevention/Response Office, Gender Resource Center, LGBT Center, Intrafraternity Council, athletic teams, ROTC, etc.) 
• Have the MSP license signed by a campus representative (e.g., Dean, staff or faculty member) 
• Participate in the MSP training webinars and coaching over the course of creating the production. The webinar recordings will be accessible online after they take place.
• Invite submissions and select the MSP presenters 
• Hold weekly playshops with presenters, to help them hone their pieces and build a learning community. (The number of playshops can vary depending on how many presenters you have. We suggest six to eight 2.5-hr playshops for 5-12 presenters.)
• Present your MSP production at least once for a live audience, along with an audience-presenter dialogue and resource fair
• Film / record the production to create social media videos and other campus educational tools. Filming is optional; we encourage it to increase the reach of your work.
• Collect feedback forms from audience members and presenters; host a celebration and debrief gathering with presenters
• Share event feedback and media with the MSP central office

This isn’t a small amount of work, but it’s very doable! The more team members you have, the lighter the load for each individual. 🙂

Here are the key team roles:

• Producers. Two or more students or staff to lead event production (e.g., distributing the Call for Submissions, recruiting presenters, finding co-sponsoring groups, graphic design, publicity, communications)
• Playshop co-facilitators. Two campus staff members, faculty members or students with a background in facilitating group discussion on masculinities and gender justice, who’ll select the presenters and co-lead 6-8 weekly playshops with them. At these playshops, presenters will share and give each other feedback on their works in progress, learn together (e.g., watch and discuss short films, engage in participatory exercises and discussions), and build community. 

Notes:

• If one person wants to be both a producer and facilitator, that can work! Just know you’ll be busy. 🙂 
• Consider reaching out to centers such as the Sexual Assault Prevention/Response Office or the Gender Resource Center to see if there’s a counselor/educator there who might like to join the team and serve as a facilitator for the playshops. 
• Folks of all genders are welcome as production team members – the more diverse, the better!  
• Team members can consider doing this work for course credit (e.g., independent study, thesis, peer-reviewed paper).

The cost for creating a campus/nonprofit MSP production is $5800K sliding scale, for the MSP resources, training, coaching, and network participation. All interested groups should apply, regardless of finances!  

Your team may choose to budget additional funds for filming and editing, venue rental, sign language interpretation, event programs, group t-shirts, etc. This cost will vary per production, but will likely be around $2-4K. 

Having several co-sponsoring groups is helpful for raising funds (each group contributes a bit), and also increases the visibility of your production. 

If you have questions about creating Men’s Story Project productions, the 2020-21 cohort application, or other MSP programs (film screenings, workshops), please contact us.