Laura Simms, an award-winning international storyteller, will speak on tolerance and resilience at Wartburg College Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Simms will talk about “Becoming the World” at 1:15 p.m. in McCaskey Lyceum, combining traditional and modern tales to help children — especially those who have experienced trauma or a natural disaster — overcome adversity to be global citizens. The project has been used in Sierra Leone, Romania, Haiti, New York City and Winnipeg, Canada.

“Our children are in great need of opportunities and imaginative challenges that reach to the roots of their feeling, thinking and being,” Simms wrote on her website.

A performer, writer, educator and humanitarian, Simms believes storytelling is a tool for interpersonal and community transformation. She received Sesame Street’s Sunny Days Award and the Brimstone Award for Engaged Storytelling. Simms is a senior research fellow for the International Peace Institute at Rutgers University-Newark.

The event is sponsored by Wartburg’s departments of women’s studies, English and modern languages, social work, communication arts, and international student programs in conjunction with its Inquiry Studies courses. The event is free to the public.

For more information, contact Dr. Penni Pier, communication arts department chair, at penni.pier@wartburg.edu and at 352-8256.