Psychoanalysis, Authoritarianism and the Arts: An Interdisciplinary Symposium

Sponsored by The Svenson Lectureship Fund

What is authoritarianism? Do we live in an authoritarian society? What is the difference between the authoritarian impulse and the artistic impulse? Can art help us resist the allure of authoritarianism?

Join us on Saturday, October 17, from 9:30 to 1:00 pm at the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center or via Zoom for our first interdisciplinary symposium, ​Psychoanalysis, Authoritarianism and the Arts. Across two 90-minute panels, scholars from Tulane University and clinicians from our community will present their work, engage with the audience and discuss how psychoanalytic ideas help us understand our culture, our patients and ourselves.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe how art can express and transform psychological conflict.
• Analyze authoritarianism from a psychoanalytic perspective.
• Discuss the relationship between authority and knowledge in psychoanalysis.

In person seating is limited to 35 people so please register now and reserve your seat.  A virtual option via Zoom is available.

Registration Information

Please click HERE to register.

ZOOM registration ends on Friday, October 16 at Noon Central Time.

Fee for 3.0 CME credits:

NOBPC Members: $50

Non-members: $75

Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25

P.S. Please join us after the symposium for an optional lunch at Sukho Thai on Magazine St.

Panel 1 – Trauma, Pleasure and the Work of Art

9:30—11:00 am

• • Rachel Hammer, MD, MFA, will discuss how tattoos can aid in trauma recovery by encouraging mourning and reintegration.  She will draw from Lacan, Bion and Anzieu’s skin-ego theory to explore tattoos as sites of meaning, recovery and liberation.
  • Kulvadee “A” Thongpibul, PsyD, will present her short film Quiet Legacy.  Drawing from Freud’s concept of repetition and psychoanalytic ideas about intergenerational transmission, she will explore how art can make unconscious patterns of trauma visible.
  • John Ray Proctor, PhD, will explore the relationship between the powerful feelings theater actors experience while performing and the fictional situations that produce them.  He will also discuss the voyeurism and emotional freedom that plays offer to audiences.  
  • Helene Greece, LCSW, will explore the life and work of musician and activist Charlie Haden.  She will draw from Haden’s work, his abusive childhood and her personal relationship with Haden to show how artists can sublimate as well as succumb to their conflicts.
  • Ryder Thornton, PhD, will draw from Freud’s analysis of group psychology, Theodor Adorno’s theory of propaganda and Eugene O’Neill’s play, The Iceman Cometh, to show how wounded egos turn to authoritarian leaders to alleviate their guilt and destroy their delusions.

Panel 2 – Power, Knowledge and the Allure of Authoritarianism

11:15—12:45 pm

• T.R. Johnson, PhD, will draw from Lacan’s Four Discourses to show how attempts at mastery can lead to ignorance, paralysis and destruction within universities and the societies that surround them. 
• Andrew Ridgeway, PhD, will engage Plato’s Republic, Lacan’s theory of jouissance and Mladen Dolar’s concept of viral ontology to argue that a split in human nature leaves citizens vulnerable to conspiracy theories which offer pleasure in place of facts. 
• Jerome Dent, PhD, will apply the work of Franz Fanon, H.P. Lovecraft, James Baldwin and G.E.M. Anscombe to analyze how modern media uses Blackness to provoke dread, contain narrative threats and reinforce racial antagonisms. 
• Ari Ofengenden, PhD, will argue that Artificial Intelligence exerts authoritarian control over its users via gratification and dependence.  He will draw from the work of Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse and Lacan to show how AI lures us into servile relationships.
• Paul Doyen, LCSW, will argue that anti-authoritarian theories have obscured the original aims of psychoanalysis.  Using Freudian ego psychology, he will suggest that the goal of psychoanalysis isn’t just deconstruction but realistic self-knowledge.

Schedule

None of the listed presenters have disclosures

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS

 In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the American Psychoanalytic Association and the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center. The American Psychoanalytic Association is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Credits Available:

• Physicians: 3 Credits
• Psychologists: 3 Credits
• Social Workers: 3 Credits
• PAs: 3 Credits
• Nurses & NPs: 3 Nursing Contact Hours
• Pharmacists/Pharmacy Technicians: 3 Credits
  Pharmacists must claim credits within 30 days and provide their eProfile ID and Birthdate. APsA will not report credits claimed after 30 days or with incomplete information.
• Interprofessional Continuing Education: 3 Credits

 Other Profession Types

Other profession types will receive a certificate of attendance upon completion of the activity and online evaluation confirming their participation. Participants may claim credit for recertification; however, their professional organization/institute hold the final say on which accredited activities they accept.

Disclosure Statement

None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. There is no commercial support for this activity. APsA verifies that all materials generated by AI are accurate, including cited publications and posttests.

 *Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company. — Updated December 2022