Conference to Examine Violence in Global Society
By Susie Davidson
Advocate Correspondent
BOSTON - It can be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain a
sense of meaning within the chaotic state of current world affairs. This
Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at a conference entitled “Why
Violence,” the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis’ Institute
for the Study of Violence will attempt to answer some of the grappling
questions many of us are facing. The event, co-sponsored with the Department of
Sociology at UMass, Boston, will take place at UMass’ Lipke Auditorium.
BGSP, located at 1581 Beacon St. in Brookline, will also celebrate
its 30th year of awarding master’s and doctoral degrees in
psychoanalysis that night at the Veronique Banquet Hall. The BGSP is the
country’s first accredited degree-granting graduate school of
psychoanalysis.
On Saturday, psychoanalysts, academics and activists will examine
the concept of violence, from neurobiological, anthropological, sociological
and psychoanalytic disciplines. Themes will include the causes of violence, its
escalation, and its potential prevention. Speakers will include prominent
activist and anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes and psychoanalyst and
aggression expert Dr. Phyllis Meadow. Also speaking will be neurobiologist
Debra Niehoff and sociologist Charles Lemert.
“Violence at the individual, societal, and international
levels is the most pressing issue of our time,” said BGSP’s
Director of the Extension Division, psychoanalyst and conference publicist Claudia
Luiz. “In order to intervene effectively at any level, it is important to
recognize the sources of violence, and the dynamics which contribute to its
escalation or de-escalation. This conference represents a beginning.
“As a Jew, I have learned to question, and to use my doubt
to add meaning to my
life and to my spirituality,” she continued. “As a
psychoanalyst, I use my learning to add depth to my quest for meaning.”
Luiz’ life has been a personal quest as well. Born in Italy
while her parents were on Fullbright grants from Juilliard, she was not told of
her Russian Jewish ancestry until the age of 12. “My mother's family
migrated to Uruguay and Argentina during the war, whereas my father's moved to
the U.S.,” she explained.
Upon learning of her origins, Luiz began attending a
reconstuctionist synagogue in New York, where she was motivated to
psychoanalyze the Torah. Following a move to Boston, she chose to attend
Harvard Hillel and also worked at Ohabei Shalom, teaching children Jewish
songs, stories and folklore. Luiz also leads workshops called The ARt of
Meeting Someone New and maintains the Web site www.mydatingreality.com.
“When I became a psychoanalyst I was able to apply what I
had learned to my
notions of being a Jew, and I bring those ideas to bear on my
sense of what it is
to be a good Jew, a good member of my community, and a good wife
and mother,” she said. “Since I did not know I was a Jew when I was
a child, and since my work as a psychoanalyst has led me to believe that we
often don't know about our own
destructive impulses until we go on a journey of self-discovery,
being a Jew for me is about discovery.
“The April conference put together by BGSP is going to be
incredible because it
is all about the violence in the world and how we, as human
beings, can begin
to understand and put an end to it.”
“This
conference is in keeping with BGSP's tradition of dealing with real problems in
the world,” said administrative assistant RD Mauzy. Students, who include
corrections officers and businessmen and women, intern in the most seriously
chronic wards of mental hospitals, treat the most highly disadvantaged, and
work to alleviate real violence in schools. “The school is breaking the
mold; it is the first accredited psychoanalytic school in the nation awarding
the masters and doctoral degrees, including the interdisciplinary doctorate, in
the study of violence,” said Mauzy.
The main speaker, Nancy Scheper-Hughes is not only an
anthropologist who observes and reports on what she sees in other cultures, but
also serves as a "witness" trying to change the evils in the world,
and bring attention to atrocities that people are not aware they can put an end
to,” said Luiz. Scheper-Hughes.
An expert on “invisible violence,” Scheper-Hughes has become involved
in the societies she has found to practice "atrocities" such as organ
trafficing, schizophrenia in men, etc. “She has the courage to reveal all
kinds of social violence and not be silenced - which, of course, is what
happened in Nazi Germany and is still happening all over today,” said
Luiz.
“Jews in particular should attend this workshop to learn
more about what they can do in their own communities to put an end to the
"invisible" acts of violence that are around us.”
The public is invited to attend Saturday’s conference.
Admission, including lunch, is $80 general admission and $50 students. For more
information, call 617-277-3915, email bgsp@bgsp.edu, or visit www.bgsp.edu.