2015 Fall Conference : Violence in Relation to Gender and Sexuality

Daily headlines report startling violence suggesting a deepening disorder within our social fabric. The multiple contexts for violence include racism, sexism, religious extremism, aggressive policing practices and the hidden violence of domestic abuse. This conference will focus specifically on violence occurring in relation to gender and sexuality.

What might a psychoanalytic perspective contribute to an interdisciplinary conversation about sexual violence occurring at the level of the individual, the group and society? How do theories of motivation, conscious and unconscious aggression, sadism, object relations, envy, revenge, greed, attachment, loss, empathy, group dynamics, conflict and defense enter a wider discourse about violence and potentially deepen our understanding of the roots of this social problem?