Storying the Self: How Stories Shape our Identities (Coursera)

Storying the Self: How Stories Shape our Identities (Coursera)

Explore how artists have come to understand their identities over time, through creative media and scholarly discussions. You will connect with your own sources of creative inspiration, and revisit a major moment in your life that has shaped who you are and how you understand yourself, with the invitation to engage with this story through literary analysis and creative expression. Discover how these themes and theories help leaders understand their own and others’ identities across the full range of human diversity, as they show up in workplaces and relationships.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Course 1 of 3 in the Storying the Self for Leadership and Creativity Specialization.

What You Will Learn

  • Reflect on how our own life experiences and identities have shaped us as leaders and creators.
  • Connect course material to our lives, including prior knowledge and experiences.
  • Analyze life story texts/media.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
What is the 'Self'?
Engage with different ideas of a 'self' and explore creative practices that can help you consider your own life experiences in new ways.

WEEK 2
Diving into our Stories
Consider how our social identities shape our lives and what we 'know.'

WEEK 3
Stories as Openings
Dive into the past as we imagine different possible futures through Dr. Stephanie Toliver's work combining storytelling and justice in ways that blend and defy genre and form.

WEEK 4
Shaping a Story of Self
Consider the importance of context as a way stories are shaped and understood, and explore stories in your own life that engage sensory experiences and responses.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television (Coursera) Coursera
Michigan State University

Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television (Coursera)

In this course, you will write a complete, feature-length screenplay for film or television, be it a serious drama or romantic comedy or anything in between. You’ll learn to break down the creative process into components, and you’ll discover a structured process that allows you to produce a polished and pitch-ready script by the end of the course. Completing this project will increase your confidence in your ideas and abilities, and you’ll feel prepared to pitch your first script and get started on your next. This is a course designed to tap into your creativity and is based in "Active Learning". Most of the actual learning takes place within your own activities - that is, writing! You will learn by doing.

Oct 5th 2026
13-24 Weeks
Leading for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Leading for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education (Coursera)

This course is open to professionals interested in learning more about leadership in higher education for a changing demographic or interested in developing their own leadership skills. The very idea that individuals can be taught to lead is not without its skeptics. Reasonable people, even some scholars in the field, point to the important traits, skills, and attributes that are observed in many visible leaders and contend that certain qualities necessary for effective leadership are not easily transmitted.

Oct 5th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Gender and Sexuality: Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pittsburgh

Gender and Sexuality: Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace (Coursera)

What is sex? What is gender? What is sexuality? What do we mean by LGBTQIA? How are these concepts related to the workplace? How have our understandings of these terms changed over time, and how have these changes impacted work and culture? To help you answer these important questions, this course will introduce you to the exciting field of gender, sexuality, and women's studies, and to LGBTQIA identities.

Sep 28th 2026
4 Weeks
Liderança Equilibrada e Cultura de Inclusão (Coursera) Coursera
FIA Business School

Liderança Equilibrada e Cultura de Inclusão (Coursera)

Nossas boas-vindas ao Curso Liderança Equilibrada e Cultura de Inclusão. Neste curso, você aprenderá que, em qualquer segmento da economia, temos poucas ou muitas mulheres na base, dependendo de qual é o setor, mas sempre temos poucas ou raras mulheres no topo. As mulheres costumam estar relativamente bem representadas no mercado de trabalho, mas podem ser até nulas nos conselhos de administração das empresas, por exemplo. O objetivo deste curso é descrever e discutir como a liderança equilibrada de gênero pode ser uma forma eficiente de gestão no mundo corporativo, por meio de dados e casos reais, assim como ilustrar a cultura de inclusão nas organizações contemporâneas.

Sep 21st 2026
4 Weeks
Leadership & Organization Design (Coursera) Coursera
Illinois Tech

Leadership & Organization Design (Coursera)

To succeed in today’s knowledge intensive organizations managers need to understand how individual differences in personality, learning style and cultural values, group dynamics, organizational culture, and human resource management policies shape employee attitudes and behaviors. This course teaches managers creative problem-solving and ethical decision-making, change management, leadership techniques for enhancing social capital and influencing other organizational members, and management tools for multicultural and geographically dispersed teams.

Oct 5th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Creative Writing: The Craft of Style (Coursera) Coursera
Wesleyan University

Creative Writing: The Craft of Style (Coursera)

Your style is as unique and distinctive as your face, your voice, except that you can choose it, you can can work on it, enhance it. In this course we will introduce aspiring writers to the art of putting pressure on written language. We will study the use of metaphor and imagery, and demonstrate how clarity, grace, and inventiveness in word choice are imperative to a story’s success. Writers will emerge with the revision skills essential to all writers of good stories and good prose.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Linguistic Diversity, What for? (Coursera) Coursera
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Linguistic Diversity, What for? (Coursera)

What is linguistic diversity? What are its implications and opportunities? How is diversity around the world? How is it experienced, understood and managed in different contexts? What is your knowledge and experience about languages and diversity? In this course we approach linguistic diversity and multilingualism not only from a theoretical point of view, but also from a perspective oriented to help understand and manage various contexts that emerge from diversity in different environments of social interaction.

Sep 28th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Key Concepts in Organizational DE&I (Coursera) Coursera
Rice University

Key Concepts in Organizational DE&I (Coursera)

Key Concepts in Organizational DE&I is the second course of a four-course series and explores the foundational principles of DE&I and how they often impact decision-making within organizations. While these concepts are common, this course presents them through the unique lens of an equal opportunity professional with experience resolving complaints of discrimination and delivering DE&I programming to influence organizational culture and policy.

Sep 14th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Foundations of Diversity and Inclusion at Work TeachOut (Coursera) Coursera
University of Virginia

Foundations of Diversity and Inclusion at Work TeachOut (Coursera)

The summer of 2020 has brought issues of equity and race to the forefront of society. How do we create tolerant and just climates at work? Changing the culture of an organization is challenging in the best of circumstances; today, it can seem impossible. Yet, it is more necessary and urgent than ever to address these issues thoughtfully and with effective practices that can produce real change. Six Darden professors have designed this teach-out to bring you the latest scholarship and best practices on diversity, equity and inclusion and organizational change.

Sep 28th 2026
2 Weeks
Story and Narrative Development for Video Games (Coursera) Coursera
California Institute of the Arts

Story and Narrative Development for Video Games (Coursera)

In this course, you will examine how storytelling acts as a vital mechanism for driving video gameplay forward. Looking at several historical and contemporary games, you will be asked to evaluate and interpret different story styles with the goal of identifying themes and procedures for your own game ideas. We'll examine traditional narrative story processes, such as three-act structure, and how they fit into game story flows and the strategic elements of gameplay. Ultimately, you will learn how to define character, setting, and structure to create a compelling game concept.

Sep 14th 2026
4 Weeks
Moving the Needle at Work: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Moving the Needle at Work: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (Coursera)

This course aims to assist managers and aspiring leaders to better understand their own identity, enhance their awareness of their own needs and the needs of others, improve their ability to lead inclusive teams, and create safe and thriving workplace environments where a diversity of opinions and perspectives are welcomed.

Oct 5th 2026
4 Weeks
Advanced Writing (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Advanced Writing (Coursera)

Advanced Writing. This is the third course in the Academic English: Writing specialization. By raising your level of academic writing, this course helps prepare you for college-level work. After completing this course, you will be able to: plan and write a more sophisticated argument essay; identify plagiarism and explain how to prevent it; read and analyze several articles to form your own opinion on a topic; make connections between several articles; form thesis statements from your readings; use sources effectively when writing an essay.

Sep 28th 2026
4 Weeks