5th Annual
Screening Scholarship Media Festival
on
The Psyche and the Boundaries of The Political
March 17th and 18th, 2017
In the past decade, we have witnessed an explosion of psychic diagnoses for problems that span the realms of the personal, the social, and the political. The contemporary refugee crisis is interpreted through the logics of trauma; the psychiatric interpretation of mass shootings deploys the rationale of psychosis; the examination of an explosion of national suicide rates across schools and universities cites clinical depression as the primary culprit. Journalists, media makers and scholars are often at the center of the production of knowledge that ties the psyche to critical political issues. The psyche, often interpreted to be self-containing and insular, individualizes problems both social and political in nature. Furthermore, it often obscures the public and historic nature of affect as well as the ways in which it is mobilized by the media and the State. This year’s festival asked: where does terror end and psychiatric crisis begin? When does a "mental health problem" become a broader social concern and what are the political ramifications of these shifts in frame? How do these changes affect the solutions we pursue? When does a “mental health problem” become a broader social concern and what are the political ramifications of these shifts in frame? How do these changes affect the solutions we pursue?
Our fifth annual Screening Scholarship Media Festival highlighted submissions that engage the relationship between the psychic, the social, and the political. On Friday night, filmmaker, Robert Greene discussed his trailblazing film project, “Kate Plays Christine,” with scholar Karen Tongson. We also welcomed the Philadelphia Amber Arts Collective who presented their memorializing work on the Philly MOVE bombing. Saturday night’s curated plenary featured four eminent researchers, activists, and artists who were in conversation with Robert Greene and Karen Tongson to bring the festival conversation full circle.
Friday Night: Featured Filmmaker, Robert Greene in conversation with Dr. Karen Tongson (Professor at USC Dornsife and Webzine developer) at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
Saturday Night: Featured Plenary on “Representing Interiority” with:
Dr. Cristiana Giordano (Anthropologist and theater worker at UC Davis)
Dr. Maurice Stevens (Scholar and activist at The Ohio State University)
Aishah Shahidah Simmons (Documentary filmmaker, activist, writer)
SEE SCHEDULE HERE
Screening Scholarship Media Festival
on
The Psyche and the Boundaries of The Political
March 17th and 18th, 2017
In the past decade, we have witnessed an explosion of psychic diagnoses for problems that span the realms of the personal, the social, and the political. The contemporary refugee crisis is interpreted through the logics of trauma; the psychiatric interpretation of mass shootings deploys the rationale of psychosis; the examination of an explosion of national suicide rates across schools and universities cites clinical depression as the primary culprit. Journalists, media makers and scholars are often at the center of the production of knowledge that ties the psyche to critical political issues. The psyche, often interpreted to be self-containing and insular, individualizes problems both social and political in nature. Furthermore, it often obscures the public and historic nature of affect as well as the ways in which it is mobilized by the media and the State. This year’s festival asked: where does terror end and psychiatric crisis begin? When does a "mental health problem" become a broader social concern and what are the political ramifications of these shifts in frame? How do these changes affect the solutions we pursue? When does a “mental health problem” become a broader social concern and what are the political ramifications of these shifts in frame? How do these changes affect the solutions we pursue?
Our fifth annual Screening Scholarship Media Festival highlighted submissions that engage the relationship between the psychic, the social, and the political. On Friday night, filmmaker, Robert Greene discussed his trailblazing film project, “Kate Plays Christine,” with scholar Karen Tongson. We also welcomed the Philadelphia Amber Arts Collective who presented their memorializing work on the Philly MOVE bombing. Saturday night’s curated plenary featured four eminent researchers, activists, and artists who were in conversation with Robert Greene and Karen Tongson to bring the festival conversation full circle.
Friday Night: Featured Filmmaker, Robert Greene in conversation with Dr. Karen Tongson (Professor at USC Dornsife and Webzine developer) at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
Saturday Night: Featured Plenary on “Representing Interiority” with:
Dr. Cristiana Giordano (Anthropologist and theater worker at UC Davis)
Dr. Maurice Stevens (Scholar and activist at The Ohio State University)
Aishah Shahidah Simmons (Documentary filmmaker, activist, writer)
SEE SCHEDULE HERE