SO 220 - The Storied Life

Credits: 4
Modern people live by their stories. In the absence of traditional markers of time, the modern self is one that fashions life events into stories that convey a sense of meaning and self-identity. This course traces the narrative shaping of the self across the life course. We begin with birth, and extend through childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age, concluding with death. Importantly, this storying of the self is read alongside the modern social forces that influence it. These include capitalist labor markets, gender ideologies and neoliberal educational institutions, all of which shape the storied selves that we are.

Liberal Arts Perspective(s): Social and Psychology