Digital Storytelling Lab
Exploring New Forms and Functions of Storytelling
Columbia University School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (aka Columbia DSL) is a next generation media lab harnessing the arts, humanities and emergent technology to tackle some of the world’s impossible problems through…
+ Collaboration
+ Creativity
+ Exploration
+ Experimentation
+ Reflection
+ Design Research
The Columbia DSL designs stories for the 21st Century. We build on a diverse range of creative and research practices originating in fields from the arts, humanities and technology. But we never lose sight of the power of a good story. Technology, as a creative partner, has always shaped the ways in which stories are found and told. In the 21st Century, for example, the mass democratization of creative tools — code, data and algorithms — have changed the relationship between creator and audience. The Columbia DSL, therefore, is a place of speculation, of creativity, and of collaboration between students and faculty from across the University. New stories are told here in new and unexpected ways.
Join Columbia faculty and industry innovators as we explore the current and future landscape of digital storytelling.
For more about DSL and it's programs, prototypes and events visit digitalstorytellinglab.com
Upcoming Opportunities
Strategic Storytelling
Columbia DSL is relaunching Strategic Storytelling, the executive education program led by Frank Rose, in partnership with Columbia+, the university’s online platform for lifelong learning. The course is designed for anyone who has begun to realize that facts often fail to persuade, that people seldom respond to logic and reason the way we think they should, that what wins on the debate team won’t get you points in real life. Storytelling, and the emotions it engenders, are the key to persuasion. Strategic Storytelling is about how to make it work for you.
As before, the Strategic Storytelling program will focus on narrative thinking, which like systems thinking involves a fundamental reset to address the needs of a digital world. The program uses carefully thought-out principles to demystify the appeal of narrative. It shows how stories have been used effectively by organizations as varied as Warby Parker, John Deere, Mailchimp and the British Army. Participants leave with a clear understanding of the power of storytelling and with a set of frameworks and case studies that will show them how to put that power to work.
+ Courses
Students can explore new forms and functions of storytelling within the following courses
– Digital Storytelling I
– Digital Storytelling II
– Digital Storytelling III
– World-building
– New Media Art
– Creative Coding
– Transformative Storytelling
– Augmented Creativity: practical uses of AI in storytelling, art, and design
For more details please reference School of the Arts course listings.
+ Executive Education
Strategic Storytelling
Starts in January 2026
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Featured Columbia DSL project
Frankenstein AI - a monster made by many
Developed & Produced by Columbia University School of the Arts' Digital Storytelling Lab
World Premiere: Sundance Film Festival
International Premiere: IDFA Doc Lab in collaboration with the National Theatre's Immersive Storytelling Studio
About the project
Marking the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s seminal work, Frankenstein AI: a monster made by many reimagines the Frankenstein narrative, recasting Shelley's creature as a naive, emotionally aware, and highly intelligent “life form” - an artificial intelligence.
A multi-year design research project, Frankenstein AI challenges commonly dystopian narratives around artificial intelligence, and seeks to provoke and broaden conversation around the trajectory of this rapidly emerging technology.