ENGL 4085: Topics in Lit, Science, & Environment: The Rhetoric & Science of Storytelling: Narrative, Mind & Me

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Selected�topics in literature, science, and the environment. Section information text: "Stories make us human—but can they also unmake us? Discover the science behind the narratives that shape our world. Why do stories move us, change us, and sometimes even divide us? “The Rhetoric & Science of Storytelling” explores the cognitive, psychological, and evolutionary underpinnings of humanity’s most powerful invention: the story. Long regarded as an art form, storytelling is now being illuminated by neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology as a deeply human adaptation—our most sophisticated tool for sense-making, persuasion, and social connection. Designed for undergraduate and graduate students in literature, linguistics, creative writing, rhetoric and composition, and communication studies, this course draws on the work of researchers such as Will Storr, Jonathan Gottschall, Fritz Breithaupt, and Remi Kalir to examine the ways effective storytellers—from Homer and Shakespeare to Alice Walker and Kazuo Ishiguro—compel attention and emotion by aligning with structures of the human brain. You will confront both the positive and the negative aspects of narrative power: Stories as frameworks for empathy, moral growth, and world-building, but also as engines of disinformation, manipulation, and polarization, particularly in our digital age of social media influencers and AI-generated content. Through close reading, interdisciplinary research, and creative application, you will explore key neuroscientific and psychological theories about how humans process and respond to stories. In this course, you will analyze literary and cultural narratives through the lens of cognitive and affective science; evaluate the evolutionary functions of storytelling as a social and survival mechanism; critically assess the ethical and political implications of storytelling, especially in contexts of ideology and misinformation; apply scientific insights about narrative structure to the creation of your own original narrative writing; synthesize research to articulate a comprehensive understanding of story as both a biological necessity and a cultural force."