South Tangerang, FAH News Online- On Thursday, June 26 2025, at the Conference Room, 2nd Floor, Faculty of Adab and Humanities, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, an International Workshop activity was held with the theme: "History Unveiled: Crafting Storytelling from the Past" This activity was organized by the Faculty of Adab and Humanities UIN Jakarta, in collaboration with the INABBY Children's Reading Lovers Group (Indonesian Board on Books for Young People).

This event started at 10.00 WIB and ended at 16.00 WIB, presenting the resource person, Dr. Murti Bunanta (INABBY), Dr. Alton Takiyama Chung (storyteller, United States) and Dr. Awalia Rahma (Lecturer in Islamic History, UIN Jakarta). Starting with the opening by MC followed by remarks by the Dean of the Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Dr. Ade Abdul Hak, M.Hum.,CIQnR and handing over souvenirs to Dr. Murti Bunanta and Dr. Alton Takiyama Chung

In the first session, a presentation was delivered by Dr. He started Alton Takiyama Chung with interactive questions with participants regarding what participants wanted to get through this seminar, he used a storytelling approach to relive historical events. According to him, it is important to be aware of the context, goals and messages to be conveyed in each story. Dr. Alton said that history is often written by the authorities “history is written by the victors” so it is important for us to conduct research and question historical sources.

In conveying historical stories, he emphasized the importance of providing information on time, place, and significance so that the audience does not get lost in the narrative. In the session, he brought the story of an unexpected encounter between American and German soldiers on Christmas Eve in 1944, amidst the harshness of the Battle of the Bulge. The story closes with a real reunion between the two main characters of the American soldier story and the now-adult German boy

Dr. Alton also invites participants to understand why they want to tell a story and what the main message they want to convey to their audience is.  Dr. Alton explains the importance of rigorous research and respect for historical facts. Historical stories are living documents that can develop over time. Storytellers must know what they want to give to their audience whether it is hope, understanding, or reflection, Historical stories are living documents that can and should be updated as new facts emerge.

In the midst of the current digital AI, according to him, it only scans information from the internet and can produce things that are wrong or not connected in context. He emphasized that AI cannot replace the presence and direct emotional connection between storytellers and audiences. True storytelling is about touching hearts, building empathy, and creating a shared space where stories become shared experiences.

He suggests using digital libraries such as the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg to access books and documents that have been scanned legally and openly. Podcasts and audiobooks can also be a source of inspiration, but they still need to be verified. Even a professional historian can be wrong, and Dr. Alton had witnessed factual errors in online presentations himself.  He emphasizes that if one piece of information proves to be false, then the credibility of the entire narrative can be questioned by the audience.

Dr. Alton reminds participants to return to one main word that is the emotional core of the story. A strong story has a simple but effective structure that includes beginning (setting and conflict), middle (action and challenge), end (resolution and transformation). A good story is not only about facts, but also about structure, intention, and emotional connection. Storytellers must be conscious researchers, writers and messengers.

Dr. Murti Bunanta added that in storytelling it must be possible to differentiate between children and adults so that the language conveyed must be appropriate to the age of the audience so that it is easy to understand and the meaning can be conveyed well, Dr. Murti also emphasized that we should read a lot so that our ability to find historical sources and write them is further honed.

At the second session delivery by Dr. Rahma's beginning is related to history as a narrative construction that the past is not only discovered but created through narrative, according to Scott, the historian must understand politics, must know where his position is so that he cannot claim that he is neutral. History is like storytelling which is comfortable, interesting and we can start with what the audience likes, the aim is of course so that everyone can access and interpret it and it is easy for many audiences to understand

Because we are in the digital world today, history is increasingly interesting with a combination of AI or visuals, but they still have to read a lot so that they not only become consumers but also producers, historians' job is also to separate fiction and fact considering that there are many books and historical sources written by various groups such as government, public historians, academics and others

This workshop aims to develop an understanding of history and how to present it in the form of a communicative and creative narrative. The activity went smoothly and received high enthusiasm from the participants. The activity ended with the presentation of a certificate and a joint photo session.

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