04:30 PM to 07:10 PM M
Section Information for Fall 2015
Telling stories is central to human communication; we narrate our existence, shaping our world through the stories we tell. The focus of this course is on these stories, the stories we tell in conversations, to our friends, and about ourselves. Hannah Arendt argued that storytelling is a strategy for transforming private into public meanings. Indeed, storytelling mediates our relationships with worlds that extend beyond us and enables us to negotiate a balance between the self and these worlds of otherness.
Over the course of the semester, we'll think about the social functions of personal narrative. In particular, we'll explore how personal narratives provide their tellers with coherence and work as resources for navigating the ambiguities and messiness of experience. We'll also study how narratives operate as presentations of self and work to create and maintain personal and group identity. Finally, we'll discuss the politics of storytelling; we'll think about how storytelling functions as a vital strategy for sustaining a sense of agency in the face of disempowering circumstances.
Coursework will include weekly response papers, one short essay, and one longer ethnographic essay analyzing personal experience narratives we've collected.
Credits: 3
Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.
Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.
The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.