update

Been ages. Got totally bogged down trying to write up chapters to a ridiculous timetable.Wanted to do viva early so David McKie cd be external, cos he’s a good professor, but it left me with about ten days per chapter and after 6 weeks realise that’s not doable. Writing has been going backward, getting slower and slower as I got more and more anxious. finally sussed that I have to put viva back to original June (ie late april submission). Still tight, will need several rewrites, proofing, binding etc. It all seemed so lucid and coherent in my head but is so LUMPY on the page. Oh well, I’ll get there in the end.

Gave first lecture in seven or more years on Tuesday – on professional ethics and PR.  Went well – helped me to hear the main story summarised and students seemed interested and engaged – nice feedback after. Just a one off guest spot, but good to know I can still do it.

finding shadow – talk

A self-help approach but quite interesting. May use some of these ideas (and similar) in the final section of thesis to suggest practical applications for Jungian ethics.Finding your shadow

Jung’s Red Book

See new link for long article in NY Times on the Red Book, Jung’s inner journal, soon to be published.Jung\'s Red Book

Is trust really the problem?

Lots of coverage of the year since Lehman’s collapse today. Lots of talk about the public’s loss of trust. In a recent paper I cited Arthur W Page society research of leading CEOs which identified the loss of trust as the No 1 issue facing business today.
But thinking about the semantics: trust is about us – our failure to keep faith in institutions. We have been pathologised, made into the problem. Actually the issue isn’t lack of trust: it’s excess greed. That changes the focus, doesn’t it?

last conference before completion

just back from Stirling 21, the academic conference for PR and comms people, brilliantly  organised by Jaquie L’Etang and team, including glorious weather.

Primary observation is the quality of papers and thought on offer: all the presentations I went to were driven by ideas not data: on the relationship between PR and anthropology, PR in fiction, dialogue and relationship, health sector ethics… much more. Didn’t see a single graph!

I presented two papers, one asking if there can be a psychology of the professions, which looked at sociological approaches to the professions and found a wealth of psychological material, though this is not explicitly identified as a psychology of professions. Then applied Jungian insights to professional development in general and then PR profession in particular. All the pieces seemed to fit, good questions and discussion. This has been useful paper to me, settling some uncertainties about the scope and direction of thesis.

Second paper was on hermeneutics, drawing on the work I did earlier in the year. Treated it as a report from recent adventures into hermeneutics, very open about my ignorance before (and still after) the trawl thru unfamiliar literature. Again, it makes much more sense to me now and was gratified that in later conversation one delegate thought I’d grasped subject well and others found it useful.

This is the last conference before I complete as I now need to put my head down and starting turning these papers into chapters. Looks like the viva will be in April now not June so need a good draft by the new year. Yikes!

Matters of Heart pt 1-4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_KgKysrDaE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZNoqKxdnc0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJhblm4KUmo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_IUVUQtF0Y

Lots of interesting interviews with colleagues and students of Jung, made in 1986

Jung lite pt 2

two short films summarising Jung in v US-centred images and terms (cheerleaders!) but some useful clips in it.

Jung-lite pt1

new link to Zimbardo

Fascinating talk at last year’s TED from Philip Zimbardo (leader of infamous Stanford experiment)  about evil and social institutions

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html

v

Jungian studies conference – reflections

Still thinking about how wonderful the Jungian studies conference in Cardiff was. My own presentation went fine, though a v small audience as the previous session had overrun and everyone needed a break, but that wasn’t a problem as I had terrific conversations with a variety of interesting people, all of whom were encouraging about my thesis. One recent PhD student had done a similar project looking at business ethics (we used similar quotes and refs) but had spent time analyzing managers’ views rather than developing a new approach it seemed. We’re swapping references and papers. Other delegates included musicians, painters, helath workers, youth workers, as well as very senior Jungian analysts and academics, including John Beebe who founded the SF CG Jung Institute in 1975 and Andrew Samuels who advises Blair, Brown and Obama on psychological and political issues.

 

I attended sessions on Jung and writing, culture, leadership, TV, archetypes and justice, competing concepts of self and much more…. Particularly struck by the level of engagement with politics – rounded off by Andrew Samuels (author of the political psyche) on economics and psychology.

 

 

The main themes that emerged for me were:

 - the desire to build bridges between Jungian ideas and the modern world, ie beyond therapy – linking with media, politics and change

- concepts of leadership using Jungian premises are being taught in management schools and developed in theory

- the welcome from experienced Jungian specialists for ‘new blood’ like me, who may not acquire equal depth of knowledge but who still have something to bring to the table.

Had particularly exciting conversations with Peter Dunlap who runs a practice for individual therapy but also offers group support for people involved in change campaigns of various sorts – he’s written a book linking Jung and political movements that looks as if it will contain useful material for me (for ‘grounding’ the conclusions in practice). I’ve added a link to a recent radio interview with him (see links)

   Only downside was appalling accommodation both for conference : cramped cold lecture theatres with failing sound ,  - and much needed rest :  ghastly student units with harsh lighting, rock solid beds and fire alarms triggered by use of showers – so turfing everyone out of bed about 6.30 am. Horrible.

 

But overall, Very fruitful…… Felt like a three year PG course on the range and variety of Jungian studies right now – exhausting but exciting.