Hindsight

Catalog description

How does the "benefit of hindsight" shape the stories that define our sense of self? Do these stories change depending on what is important to us at the time of looking back This multidisciplinary colloquium brings together the study of psychology, philosophy, sociology, history, and literary memoir to explore how autobiographical memories may be structured less by weighing evidence than by rules of employment and the need to create a morally comprehensible narrative identity. What roles do dominant narratives constructed within different socio-cultural worlds play in shaping individuals' narrative identities? And what happens when dominant narratives are created globally and no longer the preserve of regional societies? Whose interests might such identity-conferring narratives serve? What happens when globalizing cultures create tension between collective memories of belonging (to communities/nations) and autobiographies that foreground exceptionality, individual achievement, and cosmopolitan engagement? What are the psychological consequences of "looking back" on one's life from a critical moral perspective? And what are the implications for "understanding humanity"?