Trauma and Its Discontents

Event Overview

“The rise of psychological discourse as one of our culture’s dominant approaches to self-understanding has yielded undeniable benefits. Our increased awareness of psychological suffering has provided us with a fuller, more authentic picture of human life and helped us to respond to the needs of those weighed down by life’s tragedies. Along with such benefits, however, come losses and distortions that contribute to the loneliness and despair felt throughout contemporary American life. There are few examples of this ambiguity more glaring than the sudden pervasiveness of “trauma” and “trauma-informed” language systems. The rapid rise of trauma as an interpretive lens through which to understand human behavior has brought with it both advantages and costs. The purpose of this unique gathering is to open the space for interdisciplinary dialogue–including disciplines from across the humanities such as history, philosophy, theology, psychology, sociology, and literature–to interrogate and draw out the underlying assumptions of today’s trauma discourse. With an aim of assisting the field of psychology to take seriously more sophisticated notions of human flourishing, this critical engagement will offer both insights and critiques of one of contemporary society’s most ubiquitous concepts.”