College of Education and Human Development

Center for the Study of Lives

Educational Materials

In addition to lectures, workshops, conferences, and other public forums disseminating the life stories in the archives and the life story approach, the director, Robert Atkinson, has published three books related to the Center's activities. The most recent is The Life Story Interview, published by Sage (Qualitative Research Methods Series #44), 1998, and can be ordered by calling the publisher at 805 499-0721. The Gift of Stories: Practical and Spiritual Applications of Autobiography, Life Stories, and Personal Mythmaking, was published in 1995 by Greenwood Press and can be ordered by calling 800 225-5800. The first publication from the Center, Celebrating the Lives of Students: The Life Stories of Five Maine Teenagers (1990), and two videos, Frannie Peabody: The Best is Yet to Come (1992), and Helen Nearing: Loving and Leaving the Good Life (1994) can be ordered by calling 207 780-5078. A third video, Gabriel Women: Passamaquoddy Basketmakers, is currently in post-production and will be available by the end of this year. 

Another forthcoming book by the director to watch for is the autobiography of Babatunde Olatunji, the African drummer, that will be published by Temple University Press in early 1999. This is an example of a collaborative effort using the life story interview approach for a full-length autobiography. 
 

Sample Excerpts From These Books...

The Gift of Stories
        by Robert Atkinson 

The Life Story Interview
        by Robert Atkinson 

Videos

Gabriel Women: Passamaquoddy Basketmakers