Prof. Dr. Daniel Hromada
Introduction to Psychology: On Anima and other Archetypes
Seminar, English/Deutsch, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS
Thursdays, 10:30 – 12 h, weekly, starts 17.4.2025, Medienhaus, Grunewaldstr. 2-5, room 110 (Aula).
In case of good weather, some sessions will take place outdoor (Medienhaus Garden or Terrace).

Registration on Moodle starts on 14.4.2025: https://moodle.udk-berlin.de/moodle/course/view.php?id=2640
Enrollment Key: soul

Being at the tipping point of history where artificial entitites so powerful emerge that one may be tempted to say that have a "soul", it is important to step back and think about what (and whether) soul actually "is". The seminar "Introduction to Psychology: On Anima and Other Archetypes" offers an interdisciplinary exploration of history of psychological thought. Beginning with mythological narratives like Amor and Psyche and philosophical texts such as Aristotle's On the Soul, the seminar aims to integrate cross-cultural perspectives—including animism, panpsychism, the Sāṅkhya concept of Ātman and Islamic and Judaic models of the soul. Participants will journey through the history of "the science of the soul", engaging with thinkers (and, potentially, also their AI avatars) like Hypatia of Alexandria, René Descartes, William James, Sigmund Freud, C.G. Jung, and Sabina Spielrein, concluding with an examination of certain contemporary psychotherapeutic practices.

Literature:
Carl Gustav Jung: Approaching the Unconscious.
Sabine Spielrein: Die Destruktion als Ursache des Werdens.
Gītā: Chapter 2.
Aristoteles: De Anima: Book 1.
William James: Chapter 10 of Principles of Psychology (The Consciousness of Self).
Lucius Apuleius: The Tale of Cupid and Psyche.

Fulfilment criteria for ungraded accreditation: Regular and active participation, presentation.

Daniel Devatman Hromada is since August 2018 UdK’s Juniorprofessor for Digital Education at Einstein Center Digital Future. Born in 1982 in Bratislava, he holds bachelor degrees in humanities from Charles University (Prague) and linguistics from University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis; master degree in artificial and natural cognition from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris). In 2016, a successful defense of his Thesis “Evolutionary modelis of ontogeny of linguistic categories”, entitled Daniel to carry a double doctorate from both Slovak Technical University (cybernetics) as well as University Paris 8 – Lumieres (psychology). Father of two children, he is a founder and first senator of oldest Slovak digital community kyberia.sk.