International Panel: Social Trauma

Public panel discussion event on the DAAD-supported international
research network: "Trauma, Trust and Memory – Social Trauma and
Reconciliation in Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Cultural
Memory". • Damir Arsenijevic (University Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina)
• Andreas Hamburger (IPU Berlin, Spokesperson TTM) • Camellia
Hancheva (University Sofia, Bulgaria) • Carmen Scher (IPU Berlin,
Coordinator TTM) • Chair: Martin Teising (IPU Berlin, President)
Social trauma affects groups of people who share common experiences
of war, persecution or genocide. The most recent cases of these are
the conflicts in the Balkan region in the 1990s or the still
ongoing war in Syria. In 2012, an international research network
was established, consisting of professors, students, up-and-coming
scientists and researchers, as well as Western Balkan experts from
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and Germany. On a specialist
level, research areas in psychoanalysis, the social sciences,
cultural studies and psychology are represented here. This academic
network provides a bridge-building model of trauma transformation,
reconciliation and recovery through academic reconstruction and
cross-border dialogue. It has already resulted in a "Social Trauma"
compulsory elective module that is recognised by all of the project
partners and is being taught at the seven participating partner
universities. The initial project phase that focused on "Trauma,
Trust and Memory – Social Trauma and Reconciliation in
Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Cultural Memory" was brought to a
conclusion in 2016. The outcomes from this are reflected in the
first joint book that has now been published, which, in addition to
contributions from Vamik Volkan and Mark Solms, also presents
research results from students in the network. Since 2017, the
follow-up project "Migration – Trauma in Transition. Exploring
Sociotraumatic Roots of Dealing with Refugees" has been up and
running.