Neill Korobov

Neill Korobov, Ph.D.

Associate Professor & Co-Director of Doctoral Program

Phone: 678-839-0608 | Fax: 678-839-0611

Email:  nkorobov@westga.edu

Office: Melson Hall 117


Biography

I study identity by focusing on the dynamism of conversations and storytelling practices. I examine social interactions as the sites for identity development. I am interested in the ways identities emerge, get tested out, resisted, and amended as part of the social business of managing relationships. I am curious about the ways we position our own (and other's) identities in social interaction. Unlike most psychologists who might consider the intricacies of conversational exchange an analytic nuisance, I find them to be fascinating windows into human development. My work is situated in Discursive Psychology, straddling critical discursive and conversation analytic methods. For the last several years I have been studying the stories that young adults tell about their romantic and sexual experiences. I am interested in the ways couples pursue intimacy--that is, how potential romantic partners connect and create affiliation while telling stories or talking about their desires.

On a more personal note, my interest in language and discourse began as long-standing fascination with stories and storytelling. Stories have an inescapable gravity to them. We think we shape stories, but the reverse is often closer to the truth. Stories tell us as much as we tell them. Stories are forever stalking us. When I listen to my life, I increasingly notice that its landscape is dotted with stories...stories that inevitably change and change me as I tell, re-tell, and (now more than ever) listen to others tell them. I am equally healed and haunted by these stories. Isak Dinesen said “to be a person is to have a story to tell.” I cannot think of a more astute psychological observation.

Education/Degrees

  • BS, Psychology & Philosophy, Wheaton College, 1997
  • MA, Developmental Psychology, Clark University, 2002
  • PhD, Developmental Psychology, Clark University, 2004

Courses Taught

Selected Publications

  • Korobov, N. (2011). Gendering desire in speed-dating interactions. Discourse Studies, 13, 461-485. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2011). Mate-preference talk in speed-dating conversations. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 44, 186-209. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2011). Young men's vulnerability in relation to women's resistance of emphasized femininity. Men and Masculinities, 14, 51-75. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2010). A discursive psychological approach to positioning. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 7, 263-277. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2009). He's got no game: Young men's stories about failed romantic and sexual experiences. Journal of Gender Studies, 18, 99-114. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2009). Expanding hegemonic masculinity: The use of irony in young men's stories about romantic experiences. American Journal of Men's Health, 3, 286-299. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. & Thorne, A. (2009). The negotiation of compulsory romance in young women friends' stories about romantic heterosexual experiences. Feminism and Psychology, 19, 49-70. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. & Thorne, A. (2007). How late adolescent friends share stories about relationships: The importance of mitigating the seriousness of romantic problems. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 971-992. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N., & Bamberg, M. (2007). 'Strip Poker! They don't show nothing': Positioning identities in adolescent male talk about a television game show (pp. 253-272). In A. De Fina, M. Bamberg, and D. Schiffrin (Eds.), Selves and Identities in Narrative
  • Korobov, N. (2006). The management of nonrelational sexuality: Positioning strategies in adolescent male talk about (hetero)sexual attraction. Men and Masculinities, 8, 493-517. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. & Thorne, A. (2006). Intimacy and distancing: Young men's conversations about romantic relationships. Journal of Adolescent Research, 21, 27-55. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2005). Ironizing masculinity: How adolescent boys negotiate hetero-normative dilemmas in conversational interaction. The Journal of Men's Studies, 13, 225-246. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2004d). Inoculating against prejudice: A discursive approach to homophobia and sexism in adolescent male talk. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 5, 178-189. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. & Bamberg, M. (2004b). Development as micro-genetic positioning: A response to the commentaries. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 521-530. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N., & Bamberg, M. (2004a). Positioning a mature self in interactive practices:How adolescent males negotiate physical attraction in group talk. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 471-492. [ View Publication ]
  • Korobov, N. (2000). Social constructionist theory hope: The impasse from theory to practice. Culture and Psychology, 6, 365-373. [ View Publication ]