Course: The social dimension of trauma

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Course title The social dimension of trauma
Course code KFHS/K529
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminary
Level of course Master
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Kouba Petr, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1) Introduction - How to study social trauma? 2) Current social traumas I. 3) Current social traumas II. 4) Trauma and psychoanalysis I. 5) Trauma and psychoanalysis II. 6) Trauma and plasticity I. 7) Trauma and plasticity II. 8) Trauma and memory I. 9) Trauma and memory II. 10) Political context of social trauma I. 11) Political context of social trauma II. 12) Concluding discussion

Learning activities and teaching methods
unspecified, unspecified
Learning outcomes
We confronted with phenomeno today that are increasingly difficult to grasp by conceptual means of classical and moder political theories. Mass migration, terrorism, global climate change, pandemics, rise of political particularism and identity politics, or new divisions in civil society. All that is related to evident upsurge of social self-destruction. Even psychoanalysis or critical theory perspective are not enough to help us understand current turmoil. The goal of this course is to approach complex social phenomena of our times via the concept of trauma. Since there are many different interpretation of trauma we will work with the one by Catherine Malabou. Her interpretation is based on the theory of plasticity. The concept of trauma will be first dealt in the context of psychoanalysis and develeped further to arrive at a complex analysis which entails its social and temporal aspects. Thanks to such analysis we will outline possibilities of current politics regarding constructive surpassing of trauma or its destructive abuse in obtaining political power.
By completing the course, students develop the ability to look at the complex social phenomenon of today using the concept of trauma, knowledge of the concept of trauma in the context of the history of psychoanalysis; the ability to analyze the phenomenon, which will include both its social and temporal dimensions.
Prerequisites
None.

Assessment methods and criteria
unspecified
Active participation in the seminar, report, seminar paper.
Recommended literature
  • Bettelheim, B. Individual and Mass Behavior in Exreme Situations. 1943.
  • Bettelheim, B. Surviving, and Other Essays. New York, 1979.
  • Fletcher, J. Freud and the Scene of Trauma. NY, 2013.
  • Freud, S. Beyond the Pleasure Principle. New York, 1961.
  • Freud, S. Civilization and its Discontents. NY, 1962.
  • Freud, S. Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. New York, 1975.
  • Fromm, E. The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. NY, 1973.
  • Hopper, E. Trauma and Organizations. London, 2012.
  • Hopper, E. Traumatic Experience in the Unconscious Life of Groups. London, 2012.
  • Kristeva, J. Hatred and Forgiveness. NY, 2010.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester