Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society
(a local chapter of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association)
presents a
Spring Conference
with
Patrick Blanchfield, PhD,
and
Abby Kluchin, PhD
on
From Newsrooms to Classrooms: Psychoanalysis in Public
March 23, 2024
8:30am - 2:30pm
Ijams Nature Center
2915 Island Home Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37920
Parking is free for registered participants
($5 otherwise).
Breakfast and lunch are included in registration fee.
Presenters invite attendees to review a piece they co-wrote
in 2023 about the Lacanian notion of the
subject-supposed-to-know:
https://dilettantearmy.com/articles/knowing-not-knowing-knowing-better
And a piece Dr. Blanchfield wrote about the death drive and American politics: https://late-light.com/issues/issue-1/death-drive-nation
Program Description
The presentation will focus on three topics: leveraging psychoanalytic concepts to meaningfully engage with public audiences; expanding access to psychoanalytic education; and reckoning with the “resistances” encountered in these ventures, both from outside traditional psychoanalysis and within. The core, unifying idea is of an ecumenical approach to psychoanalysis as a “stance,” that is, as an orientation that traverses multiple disciplines while also looking beyond the confines of the academy, and that can generate meaningful insights into institutions, group behaviors, and topics of pressing concern, not just for academics and clinicians, but for the public at large, and which can possible help galvanize positive social change.
The presenters will draw on their experiences of two very different trajectories into psychoanalytic education and public engagement, sketching out the current landscape and their various relationships to psychoanalysis in academia, journalism, and podcasting. They will address the vectors which those interested in popularizing psychoanalysis or bringing psychoanalytic thought into public discourse might wish to pursue; the question of how much, or how little, a given intervention need explicitly declare itself psychoanalytic; the question of targeting (and/or creating) audiences; and salient topics and flashpoints for public engagement. They will also tackle the overdetermined role of resistances to psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic vocabulary, and psychoanalytic approaches, not just in faraway newsrooms and in abstract readerships, but in classrooms and educational institutions, which are at once spaces of safety and danger, possibility and risk. How can we use psychoanalytic concepts to help others to understand the crises and tendencies of our present moment – and how can we use our psychoanalytic understanding to transform old spaces and make new ones, the better to address those crises ourselves?
Presenters
Patrick Blanchfield, PhD, holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University, where he received certificates in Psychoanalytic Studies and the study of Religion. He is also an Academic Training Graduate of the Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute’s four-year program in psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice. Since 2013, Dr. Blanchfield has worked as a freelance journalist, essayist, and critic; his writing, largely on topics of gun violence, policing, trauma, and masculinity, has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The New Republic, Esquire, Dissent, The Intercept, Bookforum, Gawker, Foreign Policy, and more, as well as in numerous edited volumes; his first book, Gunpower: The Structure of American Violence, is forthcoming in 2025. Dr. Blanchfield is also an Associate Faculty Member at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, and is the co-host, together with Dr. Abby Kluchin, of the Ordinary Unhappiness podcast.
Abby Kluchin, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Ursinus College, where she also coordinates the Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies program. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Religion from Columbia University. Dr. Kluchin is also a co-founder and Associate Director at Large of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, a school whose mission is to expand access to liberal arts education beyond the traditional university. She is the co-host, with Dr. Patrick Blanchfield, of the Ordinary Unhappiness podcast.
Schedule
8:30am Registration
8:55am Welcome and Introductions
9:00am Part 1
10:30am Break
10:45am Part 2
12:00pm Lunch will be provided on-site and is included in the registration fee.
12:45pm Part III
2:30pm Complete Evaluations and Adjourn
Learning Objectives
After attending this introductory conference in full, participants will be able to:
1. Describe psychoanalytic thinking as a "stance," that is, as a flexible orientation extending to engagements beyond either the strictly clinical or the strictly academic.
2. Describe the many overdetermined reasons for the recent re-popularization of Freud and his legacy.
3. Utilize techniques to bring their own psychoanalytic training to bear in educational settings.
4. Utilize techniques to bring analytic ideas to new audiences.
5. Utilize techniques to approach pedagogical and political conversations through the lens of psychoanalytic thinking.
Participants
This program is open to all APS members. It is not limited to individuals practicing in a predominately psychoanalytic mode. The material will be appropriate for clinicians with introductory levels of experience and knowledge.
Registration Fees and Policies
BY March 16, 2024:
Professional Members and Scholar Members: $75
Non-members: $100
Early-Career Professional Members: $50
Graduate Student Members: $25
AFTER March 16, 2024:
Professional Members and Scholar Members: $100
Non-members: $125
Early-Career Professional Members: $75
Graduate Student Members: $50
Registration will close on March 22, 2024.
Although walk-ins will be accepted, please register online at www.aps-tn.wildapricot.org in advance to assure adequate food and seating.
If you prefer to pay by check, please print the Program Registration form, and mail with your payment to:
Wesley Gosselin, LMSW
APS Treasurer
100 Forest Court
Knoxville, TN 37919.
Refunds honored with written/electronic notice at least 48 hours before date of conference. Contact Wesley Gosselin, LMSW.
Contact the APS President Frank Pittenger, PhD to negotiate fees, if needed.
Facility is accessible to persons who are physically challenged. If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to Frank Pittenger, PhD.
APS Membership
Eligible professionals can join APS or renew their membership for the 2023-2024 program year for $80. Scholars can join/renew for $50 and Early-Career Professionals can join/renew for $45. Graduate students may join or renew for $25.
American Psychological Association Approval Statement
Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Continuing Education
This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 4.5 continuing education credits. With full attendance and completion of a program Evaluation and Learning Assessment, a certificate will be issued. Psychologists will have their participation registered through Division 39.
APS and Division 39 are committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists. APS and Division 39 are also committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in continuing education activities. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods.
Selected References/Recommended Reading
https://dilettantearmy.com/articles/knowing-not-knowing-knowing-better
https://late-light.com/issues/issue-1/death-drive-nation
Contact
If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to APS President Frank Pittenger, PhD.
There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between Division 39, APS, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding sources that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest. During the program, the validity/utility of the content and risks/limitations of the approaches discussed will be addressed, as applicable.