Posted on April 27, 2010 - by David

Mentalism, Madness, and the Mind

The Institute for the Advancement of the Social Sciences announces a Student Conference on:

Mentalism, Madness, & the Mind

The conference will be held in Room 312 of the George Sherman Union,
775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
Saturday, May 1, 2010, 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm

The public is welcome.

This Student Conference was inspired by the discussions of Professor Liah
Greenfeld’s Modernity Seminar participants from the 2009-2010 academic year.
These discussions addressed the relationship between culture and the mind by
examining mental illness of unknown etiology–schizophrenia and manic
depressive illness–in an historical comparative perspective. The panelists’ bring
their diverse backgrounds–trained in disciplines including sociology,
anthropology, political theory, philosophy, and neuroscience– to bear on their
presentations on mentalism, madness, and the mind.

Conference Program

1:00 pm

Opening Remarks by Katrina Demulling

1:10 pm to 3:00 pm
Panel I. Comparing Mentalism with Existing Explanations of the Mind and Culture

David Phillippi, “Evolutionary Psychology: A Stone Age Mindset”
Megan Faralli, “Psychoanalysis and Culture”
Mark Simes, “Social Neuroscience: Premises and Promises”

3:20 pm to 5:50 pm
Panel II. Understanding Mental Health and Mental Disease

Anna Graves, “Pregnancy Cravings through the Lens of Medical Anthropology”
Henry Feng, “Red Badge of Courage, Invisible Scars of War: Understanding Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder Through the Broken Identities of Combat Veterans”
Javier Soler, “Megalomania and Modernity”
Ben Solomon, ” A Cultural Prescription: The Key to Psychological Recovery”

5:50 pm
Concluding Remarks by Prof. Liah Greenfeld