This introductory course aims to provide an overview of depth psychological (Freudian, Post-Freudian, Jungian and Post-Jungian) approaches to sex, politics and religion. This distinctive lens will allow students to supplement their understanding of these crucial topics, as they are bound to be encountered in other contexts and disciplines, for example, in History, Government, Psychology, and Literature, Film and Theatre Studies(LiFTS). Through an engagement with both primary and secondary sources, we will explore how psychoanalysis subversively expounded the topics of sex, politics and religion, and why the depth psychological lens is still relevant in todays rapidly changing world. The course begins with a brief introduction to both Freudian and Jungian theory. Subsequent lectures are divided into three phases of study, each one dedicated to one of the three major themes. Each lecture will then utilise either a salient event or topic as a springboard to asking how both classical, depth psychological theory and contemporary psychoanalytic approaches elucidate the issue under consideration, further allowing us to explore different approaches and interpretations proffered by the various schools of depth psychological thought.
- Module Supervisor: Kevin Lu