The 21st century forces us to live in a perpetual paradox—a world which is increasingly interconnected and interdependent, in which communication is apparently easier and cheaper than ever before, but in which we easily feel vulnerable, incomplete or adrift as individuals—a world in which diversity is often an opportunity but still too often lived as a burden. For many of us, the contemporary period offers more choice, more autonomy, more say in who we are and how we live than ever before. Yet this choice seems to come at the expense of a secure sense of who we are, as different - and sometimes competing – sets of allegiances make claims on our identities both individual and collective.
Counterpoint projects on Identities and the self will explore the connection between individual and collective identity and examine the mediating role of culture in this relationship. They will examine our understanding of community, the tools and skills we need to develop in order to regain a sense of well-being through cultural communications, the contribution of psychotherapy to understanding ourselves as social but also cultural beings, as well as what recent advances in science tell us about the limits of what we might expect form our physical nature as well as where we might be able to reinvent our selves as global citizens and civic beings. How do we develop a sense of self that simultaneously contributes to a much needed collective capacity? And can we do so?
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