Intensive Doctoral School

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Practical info

Specialist Course for UGent Doctoral School

Academic year 2023-2024

Course Title:

Mental Health Care, Research, Psychoanalysis and Philosophy.

Lacan’s seminar IX: Identification. Relevance for today’s clinic, and culture

Lecturer: Dr. Christian Fierens

Organizing Committee

Dr. Stijn Vanheule; Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting (Stijn.Vanheule@ugent.be)
Dr. Jasper Feyaerts; Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting (Jasper.Feyaerts@ugent.be)
Dr. Reitske Meganck; Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting (Reitske.Meganck@ugent.be)
Dr. Gertrudis Van de Vijver; Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences (Gertrudis.VandeVijver@ugent.be)

Scientific Comittee

Besides the members of the UGent organizing committee, this proposal is endorsed by

University of Pittsburgh Duquesne: Prof. Dr. Derek Hook; Duquesne Pittsburgh, (Hookd@duq.edu)
University libre de Bruxelles: Prof. Dr. Ariane Bazan; Department of Psychology and Education, (Ariane.Bazan@ulb.ac.be, TEL 02 650 67 63)
University of Edinburgh Napier: Prof. Dr. Calum Neill; Edinburgh Napier, (C.Neill@napier.ac.uk)

Topic and theme of the course

The question of identity is as relevant as ever in today’s society. The process of identification persists throughout life and can play out it in two very different ways, marking a fundamental turning point in the teachings and practice of psychoanalysis. This point is made explicit in seminar IX and is a major, but largely unexplored moment in Lacan’s teachings.

This specialist course will be dedicated to a close and precise reading of Lacan’s Seminar IX: ‘identification’. Given today’s wide-spread significance and use of the concept of ‘identity’, investigating its theoretical underpinnings using a pivotal seminar in Lacan’s teachings, is of the utmost importance. Thus, not only will this course address more philosophical questions about the nature of human subjectivity, but an important link will also be established with today’s culture, and its inextricable ties with mental health. Ultimately, this course aims to introduce and further participant’s theoretical knowledge of psychoanalysis, but it will also compel participants to reflect and elaborate on this theory considering the mental health challenges we are facing today.

Lecturer:

Dr. Christian Fierens is a neuropsychiatrist, practicing Lacanian psychoanalyst and analytic supervisor. He obtained both his diploma in psychiatry, as well as his PhD in psychology at the Université Catholique de Louvain. He teaches psychoanalysis at the Centre d’Etudes de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles and is a member of Questionnement Psychanalytique, l’Association lacanniene internationale and l’Association freudienne de Belgique.
Dr. Fierens is the author of various books on lacanian theory, including The Jouissance Principle and L’âme du narcissisme, as well as many readings of Lacan’s seminars. Important for this doctoral school is that in 2023, he published a reading of seminar IX titled ‘Lecture de l’identification de Lacan’.

Added value of the course:

This Specialist Doctoral Course introduces the researchers in psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and the topic of identity and identification in contemporary culture. It aims at questioning and discussing fundamental assumptions underlying the study of human behaviour in the social and human sciences. Being open for doctoral students from the humanities, life sciences, and social sciences, the course guarantees a genuine interdisciplinary dialogue

Participants: maximum 20

Budget: This course is free of charge for doctoral students affiliated with a Doctoral School from Flemish Universities. For students that are not affiliated with a Doctoral School from Flemish Universities a registration fee of 180 euro will be asked.

Target group: The targeted group is members of the Doctoral Schools of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Arts, Humanities and Law, and Life Sciences and Medicine. We believe that this course is most relevant to ongoing PhD research at Ghent University. Students in the fields of (clinical) psychology, philosophy, cultural studies, and literary studies might also be particularly interested. Additionally, students inscribed in various therapy courses, as well as people working in the field of psychology, might be eager to engage in this course.

Program

Dr. Fierens will lecture in French, but discussion in Dutch and English is welcome.

Day 1:

Morning: Close reading, relationship to Lacan’s seminar on ‘identification’ + discussion of ‘Pour introduire le narcissisme’ – Sigmund Freud.
Afternoon: Close reading, relationship to Lacan’s seminar on ‘identification’ + discussion of ‘Psychologie des masses et analyse du moi’ – Sigmund Freud. (part I)

Day 2:

Morning: Close reading, relationship to Lacan’s seminar on ‘identification’ + discussion of ‘Psychologie des masses et analyse du moi’ – Sigmund Freud. (part II)
Afternoon: Close reading, relationship to Lacan’s seminar on ‘identification’ + discussion ‘L’âme du narcissisme’ – Christian Fierens

Dag 3:

Morning: Close reading, relationship to Lacan’s seminar on ‘identification’ + discussion ‘Lecture de l’identification de Lacan: de l’utopie d’identité au moteur de l’invention’ – Christian Fierens (part I)
Afternoon: Close reading, relationship to Lacan’s seminar on ‘identification’ + discussion ‘Lecture de l’identification de Lacan: de l’utopie d’identité au moteur de l’invention’ – Christian Fierens (part II)

Registration

Sent CV and reason for wishing to attend to Margaux.schoofs@ugent.be. Students who qualify will receive approval by e-mail.

Registration is final after payment.