A Day with M. Fakhry Davids

M. Fakhry Davids, Discussant Francisco J. González, MD, Moderator Paula Mandel, Ph.D.

Saturday May 18, 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM

In this two-part program, PINC IVS Fakhry Davids will present "Bob Dylan and the Art of Ageing" and "Internal Racism: An Introduction"

How does a poet evocatively depict a confrontation with his own mortality? What explains the persistence of racism and racial animus? In this two-part daylong event with PINC International Visiting Scholar M. Fakhry Davids, we’ll explore these universal or universally relatable questions. In the morning session, Davids (followed by a discussion by PINC psychoanalyst Francisco Gonzalez) will present a talk “Bob Dylan and the Art of Ageing,” which highlights the mature vision of the Nobel prize winning poet-lyricist. Focusing on the 13-minute title track of Dylan’s album The Tempest, which memorializes the sinking of the Titanic, Davids’ talk, drawing on psychoanalytic perspectives on later stages of psychic development and Klein’s account of paranoid-schizoid and depressive ways of being, will show how the artist’s deep emotional engagement with the subject matter reflects his awareness of his own declining capacities. The afternoon portion of the program, “Internal Racism: An Introduction,” presents Davids’ model of how ethnic/cultural difference is processed in the mind. He argues that our in-group identity is rooted in an internal structure that functions on recognizably racist lines and which has the quality of a pathological organization. He’ll illustrate its features through clinical vignettes and outline evidence in support of internal racism as a psychoanalytic concept, emphasizing the clinical technique that flows from it. Demonstrating the contemporary relevance of his theory, Davids will suggest that the world today continues to be marked by the power divisions of colonialism and slavery, internalized in the inner racist structure.

CE Credits offered: 5

Course Objectives

After completing this course participants will be able to:

1. describe how Bob Dylan’s song “The Tempest” transforms the trauma of the sinking of the Titanic into a poetic representation of ageing and death
2. discuss psychoanalytic perspectives on later stages of psychic development in the work of Erik Erikson and Elliott Jaques
3. discuss how the paranoid-schizoid and depressive ways of being are represented in Dylan’s work
4. describe how Fakhry Davids’ concept of internal racism models how ethnic and cultural difference is processed in the mind
5. discuss internal racism as a enduring defensive pathological organization in the normal mind that includes phantasy constructions of the other
6. describe how how current structures of power involving colonialism and slavery are internalized in support of internal racism

db.pincsf.org/events – 415-288-4050 — 530 Bush St, Suite 703, SF CA USA — pincsf@gmail.com

The Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PINC maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Visit db.pincsf.org/policies for policies and disclaimers.