Recent Stories

The Return of Freud

December 2, 2023

In this essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Hannah Zeavin, Berkeley Center for Social Medicine faculty affiliate, depicts the re-emergence of Freudian psychology as a response to 21st century isolation and discontent. Discussing Freud’s introductory letters and John Forrester’s extemporaneous lectures on psychoanalysis, Zeavin suggests this resurgence of interest in psychoanalysis is here to stay.

Reparations for Forced Sterilization in California

November 13, 2023

In this KQED Forum, Jennifer James, faculty affiliate of Berkeley Center for Social Medicine, speaks about California’s reparations program for forced sterilization of incarcerated people. The program, which can be listened to in full on KQED’s website, discusses survivors’ experiences, issues with receiving compensation, and what the state should be doing next.

The Black Geographic

November 9, 2023

Co-edited by ISSI Advisory Committee member Jovan Lewis, the new book The Black Geographic (Duke Press) explores the theoretical innovations of Blackness by drawing on ethnography, archival records, digital humanities, literary criticism, and art to understand how the spatial dimensions of Black life...