Honors College 324H - Self, Story, and Society

Approaching cultural and literary studies through a range of media and experiential reflection, this interdisciplinary honors seminar explores the role of storytelling as personal, historical, and cultural phenomena. Self, Story, and Society promotes an understanding of the intersections between self-expression and self-determination, between empathic listening and learning, and between cultural centering and marginalization. Drawing on a plethora of written, auditory, and visual stories, modalities for learning include a range of texts, including written narratives, podcasts, videos, films, and visual arts. Students will engage in large and small group class discussions, student projects and presentations, critical and creative writing, and active peer engagement with one another?s narratives which may include a range of artifacts: written text, audible podcast, video production, visual art. Seminar material moves among literary genres, comparative literature, historical documents, documentaries, journalism, and academic articles to explore the power of story and its role in the complex, constantly changing nature of culture, community, and individual identity. Cultural humility will be practiced in the seminar as we learn within a diverse community of individuals.

Open to Senior, Junior and Sophomore Commonwealth Honors College students only.