The Stories We Keep: Unlocking the Science of Personal Memory (Spartan Spotlight)
Course | Registration opens 8/3/2026 8:00 AM EDT
In this course, we'll begin with your own memories, using them as a window into one of the most fascinating areas of cognitive psychology: autobiographical memory. Why do we remember some experiences vividly while others disappear entirely? How does emotion shape what we keep? Why do our memories shift and change each time we recall them? Drawing on extensive autobiographical memory research, we'll explore how the mind encodes, stores, and reconstructs personal memories, and what that reveals about how we make meaning of our lives.
Samantha Deffler
Samantha A. Deffler, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at York College of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on autobiographical memory, narrative, and student learning. Deffler brings both scientific rigor and a genuine curiosity about human experience to her teaching, making the science of memory accessible and personally meaningful.