Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry
ADVANCED SUMMER STUDY INSTITUTE
May 31-June 4, 1999
The Politics of Trauma
The traumatic consequences of war and political upheaval, organized violence, and torture are central issues in the psychiatric care of increasing numbers of people. Along with this global reality, has come recognition of the high prevalence of child abuse and other forms of endemic violence in North American communities. Psychiatric diagnoses and models of psychopathology tend to situate problems within the individual but the larger social context of trauma is critically important for understanding and responding to human suffering. This week long seminar will explore the social, cultural, and moral dimensions of trauma in contemporary psychiatry. Scholars from psychiatry, anthropology, political science, and allied fields will retrace the historical roots of psychiatric theory in the area of trauma and examine the ways in which local and global politics shape theory, research, and clinical practice. Faculty include Professors Allan Young and Laurence Kirmayer from McGill and José Brunner from the University of Tel Aviv as well as colleagues from McGill and other universities.
[Text: A. Young, The Harmony of Illusions: Inventing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Princeton University Press, 1998.]
Begins: May 31 1999 (1 week) M,T,W,Th,F 09h00-12h00.
A two-day conference on the same theme,
with invited international speakers,
will take place on June 3 & 4, during the Institute
and will be open to mental health professionals.
More information will be available in February 1999