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ZHCES organises a seminar by Dr. Ayurdhi Dhar

ZHCES organises a seminar by Dr. Ayurdhi Dhar

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ZHCES organises a seminar by Dr. Ayurdhi Dhar
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Zakir Husain Centre for Education Studies
School of Social Sciences

 

 

organising a seminar on

 

 

Psychology and its neoliberal masters: How trauma theory became a tool of oppression

 

Abstract: We are taught that the Psy-disciplines (Psychology, Psychiatry, Counseling etc.) hold the key to most human suffering and distress – it’s just a pill, a therapy session, or a self-help book away. While this narrative is fast spreading in cosmopolitan India, it has also come under severe scrutiny. In this conversation we will explore depoliticizing tendencies of Psychology -- how it is not only ineffective in assuaging suffering but actively creates social narratives that are inherently individualized, interiorized, and alienating. In effect, it neuters social change and sterilizes relational engagement. The talk will focus on the dark side of trauma theory and how it has been used in the service of neoliberal capitalism and rabid corporatism.

 

 

Dr. Ayurdhi Dhar
Assistant professor of psychology
University of West Georgia

 

Bio: Dr. Ayurdhi Dhar is an assistant professor of psychology at University of West Georgia. She has taught psychology in the United States and in India, where she also worked as a therapist. She is the author of Madness and Subjectivity: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Psychosis in the West and India. Her interests include discursive practices sustaining the concept of mental illness, decolonial theory, schizophrenic subjectivity, trauma and immigration, and critiques of ahistorical and acontextual forms of knowledge. She is currently the head editor of Mad in South Asia, an affiliate of Mad in America.

 

 

DATE: 29 March, 2023 (Wednesday)
TIME: 03.00 pm
Venue: # 207, SSS-II


All are Welcome

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.