NUS College's Guided Autobiography Course

30 November

The Guided Autobiography course by Professor Philip Holden for NUS College was held weekly from September to November 2022. Attendees had varied motivations for attending this course – some had been consistently journaling, while others felt that the time was right to take a structured chronicling of their lives thus far. The first meeting between the course mates and facilitator was one of curiosity and apprehension of what the course entailed, especially since everyone signed up for the course as strangers and would be expected to exchange non-trivial stories of their lives.

Over the next ten weeks, Prof Holden adeptly brought the attendees through the major themes of the human experience. Attendees exchanged stories on family, personal identity, work and grief. Laughter and tears were shared while mulling over the roles in their families, communities and society; and examined the impact that these, in turn, have had on them. The course allowed attendees to revisit their memories and perspectives, in an attempt to understand themselves and the world around them better. Beyond this, there was also the recognition that memory is sometimes fickle, and that – sometimes – no matter how hard one searches in their memory for a reason for their actions, the reason that rings true may not yet be forthcoming.

Throughout the course, attendees were introduced to different ways of writing and recollecting. Even as they experimented with techniques learnt, the underlying theme of wanting to live well-examined lives sounded time and again.The attendees greatly appreciate the opportunity to learn and grow through this course.

Submitted by Ms Yeung Kar Fu (Arts and Social Sciences '12).

• Faculty - NUS College