The Psychology of a Public Self in a Modern Media Age

Whether in job applications, on social media, or even among friends, we all have a self we present to the public, one that signals how we would like others to see us as well as our personal and professional ambitions. This intensive January session course aims to explore the art of creating, maintaining, and protecting a public self. In the first half of the course, we explore the meaning of a public self, with a special emphasis placed on the work of social psychologist Erving Goffman. In the second half, we examine the nuts-and-bolts of managing a public self in a modern media age.