In the March Cultural Conversation, students had the opportunity to engage in a conversation facilitated by Professor Carlos Gallego. Professor Gallego addressed and encouraged discussion on the popularization of psychopathology in our culture, including the practices, consequences, and the possible adaptation of such elements as contributing to issues of social injustice.
Can a society normalize psychopathological behavior to the point of becoming psychopathological itself? Prof. Gallego explained how representations of psychopathology over time have shown, to some extent, how society enables this behavior in different ways, like changing the language of certain behaviors as if it changes the actions themselves. He also pointed out noticeable dysfunctional traits in our political and economic systems that resemble a pathological mind. Capitalism, for example, creates a chain reaction of alienation that begins with the worker and his/her labor and can eventually end in potentially negative social interactions. This shows the links between psychopathological traits and general social practices that negatively affect humanity. The conversation successfully put together many ideas and personal points of view, and without a doubt, students left the room with a more critical perspective on the topic.
-Jeannyffer Campos Gomez ’16