Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university.

Learning outcomes

This course will present an overview of psychoanalytic theory as it was formulated by Sigmund Freud and later modified and elaborated by Jacques Lacan. We will discuss the ways in which the theories developed by Freud and Lacan have relevance and weight outside purely therapeutic contexts.

After accomplishing the course, the student is expected to:

• Possess an understanding of psychoanalytic theory as it was formulated by Sigmund Freud and later modified and elaborated by Jacques Lacan;
• Understand key concepts used in the theories developed by Freud and Lacan.

Content

By reading and discussing selected works by Freud and Lacan, students will gain an understanding of how psychoanalytic concepts such as the unconscious, parapraxes, repression, disavowal, and the Imaginary/Symbolic/Real distinction may be helpful for scholars working in the social scientists and humanities.

Instruction

Participating students will meet regularly with the course leader to discuss the reading. Attendance is obligatory. Language of instruction is English.

Assessment

Participants will be required to submit a total of four critical/reaction papers. The papers should be about one page in length and they may deal with any questions the readings raise for you in relation to the authors' method or argument; connections to other readings; disparities among the readings; implications of the readings for important issues that concern you, and the like.

Students are also to write a final paper that uses the literature to discuss a topic that compels you and that you would like to delve into in some detail. The paper should primarily be exegetical and must range over a number of the arguments developed in the literature we read during the course. While the topic of the paper is up to you, and hopefully will be relevant to whatever your topic/field of study is, the paper should not primarily be about your work. It should be an exploration of a topic in which you engage with and explain the course literature. You will be graded on how well you do that, and on how well you incorporate the various course texts and put them in dialogue with one another.

Participants will be assessed for their active participation in class, their reflection specimens, and most importantly for the quality of their final paper. A passing grade requires at least 80% participation in class meetings.