“Psychoanalysis, The Iraq War, and the Prospects for a Lasting Peace,” is the topic of a three-day symposium at USC May 13–15 sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and 11 other departments and programs of the University.
The symposium begins Friday evening with a 7 to 9 p.m. off-campus reception and welcoming remarks followed by panels in Room 304 of the Russell House from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Topics include: “9/11 and Its Psychic Significance,” “Democracy and the State of War,” “Abu Ghraib and the Torture Memos,” “Psychosis, Gender, and War,” “Defensive Splitting and the Practice of Othering,”and “The Psychology of Political Resistance.”
Greg Forter, an associate professor in the Department of English, said the symposium is an attempt to get people to think about the war and the events in the United States since 9/11 in a more psychologically sophisticated and historically grounded sense.
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| Greg Forter |
“For example, one set of questions will be to look at the psychology of terrorism and how we should talk about it while also acknowledging that terrorism has social and historical causes,” he said. “The objective is to bridge the gap between psychological ways of thinking about the war, which have tended to downplay historical context, and historical accounts of the war, which have tended to lack psychological depth.
“Another aspect would be the ‘group psychological’ reaction to the events of 9/11. How was that reaction related to support for the Iraq war? In what ways was it a spontaneous expression of grief? In what ways was it the result of media images and our government’s language about 9/11?”
Attendance at the presentations is free and open to the public. The reception and a 7 p.m. banquet Saturday evening require reservations and a fee. To make reservations for the banquet and reception, or for information about the symposium, contact Forter at forter@sc.edu, or 803-920-5715. Conference information also is on the Web at
cas.sc.edu/engl/.
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