Dear Membership,
On behalf of the IAJS Board, I am pleased to announce that we have developed an extensive IAJS Online Seminar Series through 2020. As you know, we typically offer two or three online seminars a year but because of our present global health crises, crises of spirit, crises of the flesh, crises of care and civility we are offering regular seminars for the short term. We are grateful for the generosity of our presenters who at the last minute responded to our invitation.
May 15-19, 2020 with George B. Hogenson
Bio: George B. Hogenson is a Jungian analyst practicing in Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Yale University and his M.A. in clinical social work from the University of Chicago. He trained as an analyst at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago. He served on the Executive Committee of the IAAP from 2010 to 2016 and as Vice President of the Association from 2016 to 2019. He is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Analytical Psychology and has published numerous articles on the history and theory of analytical psychology. He is the author of Jung’s Struggle with Freud.
Abstract: The Schreber Case and the Origins of the Red Book
Originally published in 1903, Daniel Paul Schreber’s Memoirs of My Nervous Illness has since seen its author referred to as the most studied psychiatric patient in history. Jung appears to have been familiar with the book shortly after its publication, but it was not until 1910 that Freud began to study the book, given to him by Jung following the Munich psychoanalytic congress. In 1911 Freud published his study of Schreber’s paranoia, arguing for the origins of paranoia in repressed homosexual desires. Freud’s reading of Schreber and his insistence that psychosis could be subsumed under his theories reignited a debate with Jung concerning psychosis that had existed from the beginning of their relationship. By this point, however, the strains in their relationship were such that they could no longer paper over these fundamental theoretical differences. Jung’s critique of Freud’s reading of Schreber settled on their differences regarding the nature of libido and the structure of the unconscious. This seminar will examine the debate between Jung and Freud as it played out in 1912 and its aftermath in Jung’s 1914 paper, “On Psychological Understanding.” The suggestion is made that Jung’s debate with Freud was a contributing factor in Jung’s initiation of the process leading the Red Book, taking Jung’s own characterization of the process as an experiment seriously. A further argument that Schreber’s
delusional system reflected the immediate circumstances of his institutionalization, and therefore left open aspects of the dynamics of psychosis that Jung would build on in later theorizing will be developed. Finally it will be argued that the debate over the Schreber case provided Jung with the final push needed to explicitly deviate from Freud’s model of the unconscious and establish the need for a deeper understanding of the unconscious that Jung would call the Collective Unconscious.
Materials for this seminar will be released in the first week of May.
June 5th – 9th, 2020 with Marian Dunlea
Marian’s book entitled Bodydreaming in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma, Gradiva award winner 2019 – best book category, is the background material for her seminar. The book outlines trauma theory and demonstrates with transcripts from client sessions how to use these resources and interventions for engaging with trauma. For the first time, we will depart from the usual format of online seminars and adapt to a Zoom format. Marian will present a 40 minute video seminar session each day at a specified time. The sessions will be recorded and posted so that the membership may view them online. Discussion online is encouraged. Additionally, Marian will submit a paper that extends the material from her book to include the present pandemic trauma experience. As we approach the date, more information about the logistics will be shared.
July 6th-10th, 2020 with Jon Mills
Bio: Jon Mills, PsyD, PhD, ABPP is a philosopher, psychoanalyst, and clinical psychologist. A member of the IAJS Board of Directors, he is also a faculty member in the Postgraduate Programs in Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University, Emeritus Professor of Psychology & Psychoanalysis at Adler Graduate Professional School in Toronto, and runs a mental health corporation in Ontario, Canada. Recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship, he is the author and/or editor of over twenty books in psychoanalysis, philosophy, psychology, and cultural studies including, Debating Relational Psychoanalysis: Jon Mills and his Critics (Routledge, 2020); Inventing God (Routledge, 2017); Underworlds (Routledge, 2014); Conundrums: A Critique of Contemporary Psychoanalysis (Routledge, 2012); Origins: On the Genesis of Psychic Reality (McGill-Queens University Press, 2010); Treating Attachment Pathology (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005); The Unconscious Abyss: Hegel’s Anticipation of Psychoanalysis (State University of New York Press, 2002); and The Ontology of Prejudice (Rodopi, 1997).
Title of Seminar:And Then There were None: On the End of the World
Overview: Once the four horsemen of the apocalypse, namely, flood, famine, fire, and war, including pestilence and death, have been replaced with global pollution and climate change, rapid proliferation in the world population, shrinkage in natural resources such as water and food, terrorism and sects of death, technological hubris and risk (e.g., biogenetics, nanotechnology), economic corruption and squandering, and the prevalence of psychopathology in politics, governance, and national leaders. The problem of evil makes these global prophecies of fate all the more expeditious.
And then something happened: The Event that changed the world. The invisible foe came without warning striking as an aggressive strain of influenza. It consumed people by the masses. Thousands died in a matter of days. The whole country of China was soon under quarantine. Iran, South Korea, Italy, then all of Europe, the Middle East, India, and North America followed. Africa was the straggler. It sprawled throughout every inhabitable continent and infiltrated the planet like a rhizome. Within one week it enveloped the globe.
Rapidly going from denial, to mitigation, to suppression strategies, states of emergency went into effect all over the world. All major sporting and entertainment events were cancelled; all academic conferences, concerts, art museums, theatres, public libraries, places worship—closed. Times Square was empty. Schools, universities, daycares closed. Then followed restaurants, bars, all government agencies, including the courts—institutions of democracy all came under siege. Then came the banks. Supply chains and grocery stores ran dry. Stocks sank, tripping circuit breakers and grinding all trading to a halt. Quarantines enforced. Unemployment soared.
Healthcare systems were completely unprepared. Thousands more died. Hospitals had no beds. Thousands more died due to collateral damage and the inability to receive medical care. Then the preponderance of jobs petered out. The workforce was suspended. Global economic devastation was immediate.
We are witnessing the largest catastrophe in recent human history, a metaphysical weeding out the herd. We don’t know what the future will bring. When the dust settles, the death toll could be in the millions, with new mutations of pathogens released into the atmosphere as we breathe this very moment—the new Black Death.
The seminar is prefaced by this video on the subject of my book I am currently writing. A chapter from the project will be distributed before the seminar.
August 5th-11th, 2020 with Liz Greene
Bio: Liz Greene is a Jungian analyst and professional astrologer, who received her Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the Association of Jungian Analysts in London in 1983. She holds doctorates in both Psychology and History and worked for several years as a tutor for the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at University of Wales, Lampeter. She is the author of a number of books and articles, some scholarly and some interpretive, on the relationships between psychology and astrology, Tarot, Kabbalah, and myth. Her most recent works, Jung’s Studies in Astrology and The Astrological World of Jung’s ‘Liber Novus’ (Routledge), were published early in 2018.
Abstract: ‘The Way of What Is to Come’
This seminar will focus on Chapter Six, entitled ‘The Way of What Is to Come’, from Jung’s Studies in Astrology: Prophecy, Magic, and the Qualities of Time (Routledge 2018), which was awarded the 2018 IAJS Book Award.
Jung’s insisted that, according to his understanding of astrological symbolism, a huge collective psychic change was coming, equal in enormity to the dawn of Christianity; that it would not be pleasant (and could be unthinkably horrific) in its initial phases; that it would provoke extremes of ‘splitting’ and polarizing; and that it would involve the necessity of internalizing ideas of good and evil, rather than projecting them ‘outside’. Astrologers at the moment are attempting to analyze current planetary configurations to ascertain whether anyone could have foreseen the coronavirus pandemic and how it might be reflected in astrological configurations. Like the discussion about the incoming Aquarian Age in which Jung was deeply involved, every astrologer has a different perspective, sometimes entirely literal, sometimes more symbolic and psychological, and sometimes both. Just as Jung attempted to define the birth chart of Jesus as the harbinger of the beginning of the Piscean Age, present-day astrologers pore over planetary configurations and the birth charts of countries and their leaders to get some insight into what is happening and how things will develop over the next months and even years. Jung relied on astrological symbolism to get a sense of the meaning of the time. This topic is not meant to debate the truth or falsehood of astrology but is focused on how Jung used astrological symbolism to describe the upheaval and change now on our doorsteps. Hopefully this material can provide a basis for some interesting discussions.
November 6th – 9th, 2020 with Kevin Lu
Title: Racial hybridity and race in analytical psychology
Abstract: This paper explores some possible contributions analytical psychology may make to theorising racial hybridity. Already a ‘hybrid psychology’, I suggest that analytical psychology is particularly well-positioned to speak to the specific experiences and challenges posed by multiraciality, despite Jung’s own problematic statements on the topics of hybridity and race. In particular, I critically reflect on the hopes, fears, and fantasies that have arisen with the birth of my multiracial children, which may in turn act as a springboard to greater depth psychological reflections on the unique and equally ‘typical’ experience of raising mixed-raced children. Such concerns have been articulated by others like Bruce Lee, who faced the challenge of raising multiracial children amidst a backdrop of racism in the Unites States. While this paper critically assesses possible ways in which racial hybridity may be theorised from a Jungian perspective, it equally argues that a Post-Jungian approach must reflect the flexibility and fluidity of hybridity itself.
Kevin will use the Zoom format at least one day during his seminar. Details to come.
Bio: Kevin Lu, BA (Hons) (University of Toronto); MA (Heythrop College, University of London); PhD (University of Essex), is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the MA Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex. He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the International Association for Jungian Studies and a member of Adjunct Faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Kevin’s publications include articles and chapters on Jung’s relationship to the discipline of history, Arnold J. Toynbee’s use of analytical psychology, critical assessments of the theory of cultural complexes, sibling relationships in the Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora, racial hybridity, and Jungian perspectives on graphic novels and their adaptation to film.
December 17th-20th with Robin S. Brown
Robin S. Brown will be presenting a seminar titled: “Synchronicity and the Relational Jung.” Details are forthcoming.
Bio: Robin S. Brown, PhD, LP, NCPsyA, is a psychoanalyst in private practice and a member of adjunct faculty for the Counseling and Clinical Psychology Department at Teachers College, Columbia University. His first book, Psychoanalysis Beyond the End of Metaphysics: Thinking Towards the Post-Relational (Routledge, 2017), won the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis Book Prize. This was followed by an edited collection, Re-Encountering Jung: Analytical Psychology and Contemporary Psychoanalysis (Routledge, 2018), which was nominated for a Gradiva Award. His most recent publication is Groundwork for a Transpersonal Psychoanalysis: Spirituality, Relationship, and Participation (Routledge, 2020). Forthcoming is a collection co-edited with Marie Brown titled Emancipatory Perspectives on Madness: Psychological, Social, and Spiritual Dimensions (Routledge).
On behalf of the Board, wishing you safety and good health,
Robin McCoy Brooks
IAJS Chair: Online Seminars
IAJS Board of Directors
I am interested to learn more about how the seminar with Liz Greene will be delivered. I live in Australia, so likely a different time zone. Not sure if I will be able to access this? I would appreciate you letting me know these details, along with the cost. Thank you very much. Kind regards, Linda Murrow