Lifestory: A Device for Dispersing Authority in the Introductory Course

In common with many teachers of sociology, I encourage my students to articulate the discipline's theoretical, conceptual, and substantive materials using their own life experiences. While students may do this with ease on their own or in the company of trusted colleagues, they often demonstrate extreme reluctance to relate personal tales in the public context of the classroom. This is especially true at those points in the introductory course dealing with such sensitive issues as prejudice and discrimination, deviance, social stratification, the family, and the presentation of self. Their reluctance is both understandable and unfortunate. It is understandable because