Humanist and Anti-Humanist Tendencies in Contemporary Philosophy: Psychoanalysis and Visual Culture

PhD Advisor: Prof. Szymon Wróbel

As an anthropological conception, psychoanalysis is fundamental for study of human cognition. It provides a conceptual apparatus indispensable for researching the confrontation between the humanist and anti-humanist tendencies of contemporary philosophy. Harold Bloom, Jacques Derrida, Paul de Man have successfully used Freud’s and Lacan’s theories in their reading of European culture. Conversely audio-visual media have largely modeled the patterns of circulation and construction of knowledge within contemporary mass culture. As doctoral student, you will be invited to rethink the confrontation of humanist and anti-humanist trends in contemporary philosophy by exploring the crossroads of psychoanalysis and audio-visual mass culture.

If you choose this field of doctoral research you will complete your fellowships abroad at the following Partner Institutions:

University of Buffalo’s English Department
The English Department at the University of Buffalo is one of the leading institutions specializing in contemporary culture criticism, critical and creative writing, as well as in-depth interpretation of cultural artifacts. Such institutional setting is crucial in order to expose you to an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary aesthetics, literature and philosophy, and especially to the work by Benjamin, Heidegger, Foucault, Schmitt, Coolidge, Stein, Stevens, Irigaray, and Levinas. You will work under the supervision of Prof. Krzysztof Ziarek. For more information, see:
http://english.buffalo.edu

University of Central Lancashire, Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Among the six schools constituting the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Central Lancashire, the School of Journalism, Media and Communication is known for its research on popular culture, and especially for its study of mass media and visual arts such as television and cinema. Given the role played in contemporary humanities by thinkers such as Manuel Castells and Slavoy Zizek, who have focused their attention on media in contemporary culture, it is crucial that you have the opportunity to be trained in the newest methodologies of media studies and interpretative techniques specific to visual culture. You will work under the supervision of Prof. Ewa Maziarska. For more information, see:
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/ahss/creative_performing_arts/index.php