Fridays @ CCP Lecture Series

Alan Bass, PhD

(New York, NY)

Friday, June 20, 2025

The Genocide Principle: A Report

7-9 pm: (CST): ZOOM Presentation & Discussion

About the Presentation: Genocide scholarship generally agrees that it is a trans-historical, trans-cultural, universal phenomenon. As such, it calls for a psychoanalytic explanation as a fundamental aspect of the psyche. This "report" integrates a few essential contributions from genocide scholarship with psychoanalytic thinking.

Alan Bass, Ph.D. is a practicing analyst in New York City, a training analyst and faculty member at IPTAR, and a member of the graduate philosophy faculty at The New School for Social Research. He is the author of three books—Difference and Disavowal: The Trauma of Eros; Interpretation and Difference: The Strangeness of Care; and Fetishism, Philosophy, and Psychoanalysis: The Iridescent Thing—and the translator of four books by Jacque Derrida. He was a joint recipient of the 2021 JAPA Best Paper Award for "Murderous Racism as Normal Psychosis: The Case of Dylann Roof", and is among the internationally recognized Freud scholars invited to contribute to a special issue of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis honoring the publication of the Revised Standard Edition.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will learn about the psychodynamics of genocide.

Participants will understand integration of social science and psychoanalytic perspectives on the question of genocide.  

This is an Intermediate level of Presentation                                

Fees

CCP members: free with annual $195 membership, payable at registration.

Students:free with annual $175 membership, payable at registration.

New / Ongoing Fellows: free with annual $250/$300 membership, payable at registration.

Non-CCP members, single admission: $50

Continuing Education

This program is sponsored for Continuing Education Credits by the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis. There is no commercial support for this program, nor are there any relationships between the continuing education sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding that could be construed as conflicts of interest. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If the program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CCP is licensed by the state of Illinois to sponsor continuing education credits for Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Counselors and Licensed Clinical Psychologists (license no. 159.000941 and 268.000020 and 168.000238 Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation).

Professionals holding the aforementioned credentials will receive 2.0 continuing education credits for attending the entire program. To receive these credits a completed evaluation form must be turned in at the end of the presentation and licensed psychologists must first complete a brief exam on the subject matter. No continuing education credit will be given for attending part of the presentation. Refunds for CE credit after the program begins will not be honored. If a participant has special needs or concerns about the program, s/he/they should contact Toula Kourliouros Kalven by June 19, 2025 at: tkalven@ccpsa.org

References/Suggested Readings

Totem and Taboo, Chap. 4, SE 13.

"Instincts and Their Vicissitudes," SE 14.

"Thoughts for the Times on War and Death," SE 14.

Beyond the Pleasure Principle, SE 18.

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, SE 18.

The Ego and the Id, Chaps. 3,4,5. SE

Civilization and its Discontents, SE 21.

Why War? SE 22.

Presented by

The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis/CCP Program Committee: Toula Kourliouros Kalven, Alan Levy, PhD, Zak Mucha, LCSW

The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis is an IRS 501(C)(3) charitable organization, and expenses may be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and your personal tax situation.