The Introductory course is the best course for you if you want to:

• Fit into your time frame. If you would like to learn how to do PNI but don’t have the time to commit to a full practicum course, the Introductory course will take up much less of your time but still give you a basic idea of how PNI works.
• See what PNI is like. If you think PNI might be useful to your community or organization, the Introductory course can help you evaluate PNI’s potential to meet your needs.
• Get started in PNI. If you want to learn how to do PNI, but the other course requirements seem too daunting (running your own project, for example), the Introductory course will help you get your feet wet, and you can explore more completely in the future.

You will learn the basics of PNI theory and practice. You'll get an idea of what it's like to participate in a PNI project. And you'll get a chance to practice gathering some stories and facilitate some narrative sensemaking. By working on a shared project with everyone else in your cohort, you'll get a taste of what it's like to do PNI without having to build and carry out a whole project of your own.

Each 3-hour online meeting will include these parts:

• Check in. We will begin by talking for 20 minutes about what you experienced, learned, and struggled with when you carried out your previous course assignment. (In our first meeting, we will use this time to orient ourselves to the course and to each other.)
• Seminar. We will spend 45 minutes discussing the week’s readings, after which we will take a 5-minute break.
• Sandbox. In the next 90 minutes, your instructor will facilitate (and demonstrate) a story-sharing or sensemaking exercise or activity, the same one you will facilitate in your upcoming outside-of-class assignment.
• Check out. We will end each meeting with a 20-minute discussion of the instructions for your upcoming assignment. (In our last meeting, we’ll use this time to look back on the course.)

This course uses the same materials as its open-source counterpart, with the same readings, discussions, facilitated group activities, and outside-of-class assignments (as we carry out our shared PNI project). The only difference is that I (Cynthia Kurtz) will lead the discussions, facilitate the group activities, and coach you through your assignments.

Before each meeting, you should read or skim these pages in Working with Stories Simplified:

• Introduction and Fundamentals. Chapters 1 and 2 (23 pages)
• Story Collection. Chapter 5 (30 pages)
• Sensemaking. Chapter 8 (16 pages)
• Intervention and Return. Chapters 10 and 11 (16 pages)

These are the assignments you will carry out during the Introductory course:

• Observe story sharing. 30+ minutes. Record or take notes on a conversation with 2+ people who are not taking the course. Practice listening to and supporting story sharing in a group.
• Facilitate story sharing. 60+ minutes. Facilitate a story-sharing session with 3+ people who are not taking the course. Ask participants to answer a few questions about their stories. Add your stories to the shared course collection. 
• Facilitate sensemaking. 90+ minutes. Facilitate a sensemaking session with 2+ people who are not taking the course. Prepare to combine your results with those of other students. 

Yes. Pairs or trios of students can collaborate on the course assignments, as long as each person contributes at least 4 stories to the overall project.