In this all-level interdisciplinary program in human development and experimental creative writing, we will study the bio- and psychosocial development of the self and explore to what degree our self-conception is structured by internal and external voices. We will employ several modes of theoretical, critical, and creative inquiry and expression, listening for and possibly re-arranging the chorus of voices that constitute the self.

How does the “voice” of psychology inform our conception of who we are? How do our relationships with others inform and expand our observational selves? We will consider concepts from attachment theory, interpersonal neuropsychology, infant mental health, as well as humanistic, existential, and feminist theory using a wide range of approaches, from neuroscience to psychoanalytic thought and developmental perspectives. Our readings will include work from Erikson, Siegel, Ainsworth, Bowlby, Adler, Rogers, Horney, Freud, Jung, and Frankl.

In our writing and literary work, we will ask how do our own “voices” conceive of who we are? How might we disrupt conventional conceptions of the self? In an attempt to hear ourselves and others speak differently, our (un)creative writing will take up experimental writing procedures, e.g., using source texts as material to manipulate, transform and otherwise “translate” using combinatorial play, re-structuring or de-structuring. Our literary and poetic interlocutors will likely include Kristeva, Barthes, Lacan, Žižek, Charles Bernstein, Lyn Hejinian, M. NourbeSe Philip, Maggie Nelson, Claudia Rankine, and Julie Carr.

Throughout the program, we will closely read texts from psychology, literary and critical theory, and experimental and conceptual works of poetry. We will engage these works in seminars, small groups, lectures, and reading sessions. All students will develop qualitative research skills, participate in mindfulness practices, and in writing, performance, and movement workshops.  Students will write both academic essays and creative work. 

In the fall, students will explore the chronology of human development from birth to late childhood. Using the universal language of the child, movement and play, we will work through the transitions of each stage, approaching these through both psychology and literary theory. At the end of fall quarter, students will select a subset of writing produced over the quarter to bring together, rework, and self-publish in individual “chapbooks.”