Structure and Change in Life Historical Accounts

This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of narrative psychology by looking to a number of life historical accounts to consider questions about structure and change in life depiction. Through a close reading of psychoanalytic case studies, existential and phenomenological case studies, ethnographies written outside of one’s own culture, and contemporary study-of-lives work in psychology, students will inquire into the many ways to structure the life of another person in text. Course readings will also focus on autobiographical accounts, especially those dealing with major life change such as gender reassignment, madness, creativity, violence, illness, and the sublime. At stake are questions of power and ethics, the relationship between experience and writing, and the shifting genre of the life history on the boundary between the social sciences and the humanities. Beyond readings and class discussions, students will practice several forms of narrative writing and compose a life study, drawing upon the theoretical and methodological tools discussed in the course, to create a portrait of an individual of their choosing.