Dr. Gail N. Herman

Creative storyteller and arts consultant, Dr. Gail N. Herman, has performed and taught storytelling extensively throughout the United States, as well as in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Jamaica, Germany, Ghana, India, and the Virgin Islands. Besides performing for students in schools and libraries, Dr. Herman works with teachers and helping professionals to infuse storytelling and the kinesthetic, musical, and spatial aspects of learning into reading and other curriculum areas of our schools. She teaches for Lesley University, MA, Garrett College, MD, and The University of Connecticut (CONFRATUTE) in CT. Gail has directed the Tall Tale Liar’s Festival in MD for 16 years.

Dr. Herman has conducted hundreds of inservice storytelling workshops.  She also teaches art appreciation through stories, sound, and gesture as a guest in classes at George Mason University and Maryland Institute, College of Art and at the University of Connecticut. She presents many storytelling workshops and keynotes to state educational and other organizations such as LANES, NSN, Confratute, NAEYC, NAGC, and AEGUS. 

She was an invited keynoter at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and the New Ways Of Learning: Spotlight on the Multiple Intelligences Conference sponsored by Zephyr Press in Tucson, AZ.  She performed at the Albert Schweitzer Symposium at the United Nations in NYC, at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY, the WV Storytelling Festival, the Harvest Moon Festival in WV, and the Northeast Storytelling Festival in Historic Gettysburg . 

Dr. Herman worked as a consultant with Dr. Patricia Hollingsworth on four education grants to train teachers to work with economically disadvantaged students with high potential at the University school in Tulsa.  Her job was to infuse the kinesthetic arts and storytelling into the curriculum.  Dr. Herman also worked as an enrichment consultant and storyteller in Cherry Creek Schools and Littleton Schools near Denver, Colorado.  She works with Drs.Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis at the University of Connecticut for the institute/conference called CONFRATUTE where she teaches storytelling and movement applications to the classroom as well as Primary Grade Enrichment (with Dr. Susan Baum)

Dr. Herman has received many grants including a Laurel Arts Grant, Bluemont Concert Series, local Arts Council Grants, MD and WV Humanities Council grants, and MD State Arts Council Residency and Artist in Education (AIE) grants. She continues her work on Coal Talk Oral Histories.  Most recently she received a grant from MBEC to collect stories in the Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Other Experience

Dr. Herman taught at WVU as Visiting Assistant Professor, was a primary grade teacher, a gifted and an early childhood teacher for over thirteen years.  She taught in the New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Maryland public schools. She was a regular classroom teacher, a Helping Teacher, and an Enrichment Teacher.  She has taught learning disabled, underachieving, as well as gifted students.  Presently she teaches at three colleges and universities in her specialized fields of education, storytelling, creative arts in learning, gifted education, and early childhood curriculum.

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