Stories of Self
Please join me in Spring 2026 for an exciting new self-help course, Stories of Self. This course will be offered as both a senior seminar (SOC 381W Section 45499) and a graduate elective (DATA 790 Section 54990) on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:20. Enroll today!
EXPLORE ANSWERS TO LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS:
- Who am I?
- What’s my purpose?
- Where do I belong?
- How can I be my truest self?

THE STORIES WE TELL ABOUT OURSELVES SHAPE OUR LIVES.
WHAT STORIES ARE YOU TELLING?
TELL THE STORIES THAT HELP YOU BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOU.
Over the past several years, I’ve been leading an ambitious research project on influence operations, specifically how narratives are strategically deployed to shape beliefs, construct identities, and mobilize people to desired action. My team uncovered the narrative processes fueling psychological operations by state actors, indoctrination by neo-Nazis, and community-building by incels and anarchists. The same processes that malign actors use to steer people toward hate and violence can also be used to build better lives.
We as individuals can harness the power of stories to make our lives more meaningful and satisfying. Rather than fall victim to the stories from malign influence operations, we can become the narrative architects of our own lives.
Join me in Spring 2026 to pilot this exciting, new self-help program. Guided by my research and by social psychological theories of self, identity, and narrative, we will do a deep dive into the stories you may be weaponizing against yourself and how they are shaping your life. Then you will learn the skills you need to choose, tell, and embody stories that reflect your truest, best self.
Change your stories, change your life.