In this episode of Epistemic Alchemy, Dr. Mohammed Raei speaks with Cynthia Kurtz, an independent consultant, researcher, author, coach, and software developer who has worked on more than 150 participatory narrative projects across government, corporate, and nonprofit settings.

Cynthia introduces Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI): an approach that gathers people’s stories, helps communities make sense of them together, and returns what is learned to those who shared their experiences. She explains its three essential phases: collection, sense-making, and return, alongside the optional phases of planning, catalysis, and intervention.

The conversation explores why PNI does not seek to impose a single authoritative interpretation on people’s experiences. Instead, it uses patterns in qualitative and quantitative material to generate productive questions, competing interpretations, and deeper collective inquiry.

We also discuss PNI’s epistemological foundations, power-sharing in organizations, the tensions between action research and academic gatekeeping, online versus in-person facilitation, uncertainty, risk, and the enduring difficulty of understanding other people’s worlds.

This episode will be especially relevant to researchers, facilitators, organizational-development practitioners, community leaders, and anyone interested in participatory methods, complexity, narrative, and social change.

Resources 

• Cynthia’s website: https://www.cfkurtz.com/
• Working with Stories in Your Community or Organization: Participatory Narrative Inquiry
• Working with Stories Simplified: A Brief Introduction to Participatory Narrative Inquiry
• The Working with Stories Sourcebook: Questions and Cases for Participatory Narrative Inquiry
• The Working with Stories Miscellany: Essays and Other Writings on Participatory Narrative Inquiry