Sheldon George

Sheldon George is Professor and chair of the Department of Literature & Writing and Director of General Education. He is a scholar of American and African American literature and culture whose books have focused on Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, narrative theory, and global black women writers.

George is author of Trauma and Race: A Lacanian Study of African American Racial Identity (2016), which has been called by endorsers "The most important book on psychoanalysis and race in the twenty-first century" and is described as a book that "has changed the landscape of thinking about racism." George is coeditor, with Jean Wyatt, of Reading Contemporary Black British and African American Women Writers: Race, Ethics, Narrative Form. The collection, published in 2019, takes narratology in a new direction by inserting race into discussions of narrative theory. He is also coeditor, with Derek Hook, of Lacan and Race: Racism, Identity and Psychoanalytic Theory (2021). This is the first essay collection to root itself in a direct rethinking of race through Lacanian theory and an active remaking of Lacanian theory through race.

George's current book project is an essay collection, coedited with Jean Wyatt, titled Experimental Subjectivities in Global Black Women's Writing: Race and Narrative Innovation. The collection explores ways that black women writers from Africa, the UK, the Caribbean and the US experiment with literary form and pioneer stylistic inventions to express the subjectivities of their black characters.

George is an Associate Editor of Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society, and he is chair of the MLA Executive Committee for the forum Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Literature. George received the Dean's Award for Exceptional Teaching in 2010 and the Provost's Award for Student Centeredness in Graduate Teaching in 2018.
 

Education

• Ph.D., English, Boston College
• B.A., English, The City College of New York

What I Teach

• Contemporary Black Women Writers
• Psychoanalysis, Race and Sexuality
• American Literature from 1865-1920
• Research Methods
• Introduction to Theory
• Intersectional Identities in US Literature
• 20th Century U.S. Fiction
• Toni Morrison Seminar
• Literature of the Jazz Age
• African American Fiction
• Identity and Race in the American Literary Canon 1820-1890
• Boston Writers in the 19th Century

Publications

Books

Experimental Subjectivities: Race, Difference and Narrative Innovation in Contemporary Black Women's Novels. Ed. by Sheldon George and Jean Wyatt. Bloomsbury Studies in Global Women's Writing. Bloomsbury Press. Forthcoming, 2023.

Lacan and Race: Racism, Identity and Psychoanalytic Theory. Ed. by Sheldon George and Derek Hook. Routledge Press, 2021. https://www.amazon.com/Lacan-Race-Identity-Psychoanalytic-Psychology/dp/0367345978

Reading Contemporary Black British and African American Women Writers: Narrative, Race, Ethics. Ed. by Jean Wyatt and Sheldon George. Routledge Press, 2020. https://www.routledge.com/Reading-Contemporary-Black-British-and-African-American-Women-Writers/Wyatt-George/p/book/9780367189280

Trauma and Race: A Lacanian Analysis of African-American Identity. Texas: Baylor UP, 2016. https://www.baylorpress.com/9781602587342/trauma-and-race/

Journal Special Issues

Issue on "Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Interventions in Culture and Politics." Ed. by Sheldon George and Derek Hook. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. Sept. 2018, Vol. 23, Issue 3. https://rd.springer.com/journal/41282/23/3/page/1

Issue on "Psychoanalysis, African Americans and Inequality." Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. Ed. by Annie Stopford and Sheldon George. Dec 2014, Vol. 19, Issue 4. https://rd.springer.com/journal/41282/19/4/page/1

Selected Journal Articles and Book Chapters

"Victims of the Cross: Violence and Apocalyptic Discourse in Christian Nationalism." In Sheep's Clothing: The Idolatry of White Christian Nationalism. Ed. by George Yancy. Rowman & Littlefield, Fall 2023. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538183298/In-Sheep%27s-Clothing-The-Idolatry-of-White-Christian-Nationalism

"The Sublimation of Race: From the Courtly Lady to the Derelict White Body." Studying Lacan's Seminar VII: The ethics of psychoanalysis. Ed. by Carol Owens. Routledge Press, Fall 2023. https://www.routledge.com/Studying-Lacans-Seminar-VII-The-Ethics-of-Psychoanalysis/Owens/p/book/9780367420338

Co-author with Jean Wyatt. "Introduction: Experimentation and Subjectivity in Black Global Women's Novels."Experimental Subjectivities in Global Black Women's Writing: Race and Narrative Innovation. Ed. by Sheldon George and Jean Wyatt. Bloomsbury Press, forthcoming Fall 2023.

"Desire Beyond the Limits of Sanity: Subjectivity and Psychic Spatiality in Toni Morrison's Paradise." Experimental Subjectivities in Global Black Women's Writing: Race and Narrative Innovation. Ed. by Sheldon George and Jean Wyatt. Bloomsbury Press, forthcoming Fall 2023.

"The Lacanian subject of race: sexuation, the drive, and racial subjectivity." Lacan and Race: Racism, Identity and Psychoanalytic Theory. Ed. by Sheldon George and Derek Hook. Routledge Press, 2021. https://www.amazon.com/Lacan-Race-Identity-Psychoanalytic-Psychology/dp/0367345978

Co-author with Derek Hook. "Introduction: theorizing race, racism, and racial identification." Lacan and Race: Racism, Identity and Psychoanalytic Theory. Ed. by Sheldon George and Derek Hook. Routledge Press, 2021. https://www.amazon.com/Lacan-Race-Identity-Psychoanalytic-Psychology/dp/0367345978

Co-author with Jean Wyatt. "Introduction: Narrative Theory and Contemporary Black Women Writers." Reading Contemporary Black British and African American Women Writers: Narrative, Race, Ethics. Ed. by Jean Wyatt and Sheldon George. Routledge Press, 2020. https://www.routledge.com/Reading-Contemporary-Black-British-and-African-American-Women-Writers/Wyatt-George/p/book/9780367189280

"Narrating the Raced Subject: Toni Morrison's Jazz and the Literature of Modernism." Reading Contemporary Black British and African American Women Writers: Narrative, Race, Ethics. Ed. by Jean Wyatt and Sheldon George. Routledge Press, 2020. https://www.routledge.com/Reading-Contemporary-Black-British-and-African-American-Women-Writers/Wyatt-George/p/book/9780367189280

"Jouissance and Discontent: A Meeting of Race, Psychoanalysis and American Slavery." Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. Special Issue on "Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Interventions in Culture and Politics." Sept. 2018, Vol. 23, Issue 3, p.267-289. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41282-018-0105-0
Reprinted in: Race, Rage, and Resistance: Philosophy, Psychology and the Perils of Individualism. Edited by David M. Goodman, Eric Severson and Heather Macdonald. Routledge Press, 2019. https://www.routledge.com/Race-Rage-and-Resistance-Philosophy-Psychology-and-the-Perils-of-Individualism/Goodman-Severson-Macdonald-Goodman/p/book/9780367217822
Translated into Portuguese as: "Gozo e mal-estar: um encontro entre psicanálise, raça e a escravidão Americana." Ubuntu: Psicanálise e Herança Colonial. IN A. Guerra, D. Hook e R. Lima (orgs). Brazil, São Paulo: n-1 Edições, 2023.

Co-author with Derek Hook. "Introduction: Lacanian Praxis and Social Intervention." Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. Special Issue on "Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Interventions in Culture and Politics." Sept. 2018, Vol. 23, Issue 3, p235-243. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41282-018-0103-2

Co-interviewer with Derek Hook. "The Deontology of a Political Psychoanalysis: An Interview With Patricia Gherovici." Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society. Special Issue on "Lacanian Psychoanalysis: Interventions in Culture and Politics." Sept. 2018, Vol. 23, Issue 3, p.350-359. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fs41282-018-0073-4

"The Body that Race Built: Shame, Trauma and Lack in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and God Help the Child." Shame and Modern Writing. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature series. Ed. Barry Sheils and Julie Walsh. Routledge UP, 2018. https://www.routledge.com/Shame-and-Modern-Writing/Sheils-Walsh/p/book/9781138067271

"From Alienation to Cynicism: Race and the Lacanian Unconscious." Special issue of Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society on "Psychoanalysis, African Americans and Inequality." Dec 2014, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p360-378. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1057/pcs.2014.36

"Approaching the Thing of Slavery: A Lacanian Analysis of Toni Morrison's Beloved." African American Review45.1-2 (Spring/Summer 2012): 115-130. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23783440?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

"The Performed Self in College Writing: From Personal Narratives to Argumentative and Research Essays." Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition and Culture 12.2 (Spring 2012): 319-341. http://pedagogy.dukejournals.org/content/12/2/319.full.pdf+html

"Realism's Racial Gaze and Stephen Crane's The Monster: A Lacanian Reading." Experiments in/of Realism: Spec. issue of Synthesis 3 (Winter 2011): 69-86. https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/synthesis/article/view/16920

Interviews

“Professor of Literature and Writing Sheldon George Discusses Innovations of Black Women Writers.” Simmons University. April, 2023. https://www.simmons.edu/news/professor-literature-and-writing-sheldon-george-discusses-innovations-black-women-writers

"Sheldon George and Derek Hook. Lacan and Race: Racism, Identity, and Psychoanalytic Theory." New Books in Psychoanalysis. Podcast interview with Jordan Osserman. Oct. 2021. https://newbooksnetwork.com/lacan-and-race

"Library Talk: Racism and Psychoanalysis." Hosted by Dr. Leon S. Brenner. Internationale Psychoanalytische Universität Berlin. Berlin, Germany, Virtual. October 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZHVdIXXeDU&t=2208s

"Lacan and Race - Racism, Identity, and Psychoanalytic Theory with Derek Hook and Sheldon George." Psychoanalytic Thinking. Hosted by Michael Benn. Moderated by Andrew Fremont-Smith and Enda Deburca.Virtual. September 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhWTpfvIX48&t=3105s

"RU159: Drs. Sheldon George, Derek Hook, Michelle Stephens & Sheila Cavanagh discuss LACAN AND RACE." Rendering Unconscious podcast. Interview by Dr. Vanessa Sinclair. September 2021. http://www.renderingunconscious.org/psychoanalysis/ru159-sheldon-george-derek-hook-michelle-stephens-sheila-cavanagh-on-lacan-race/

"Lacan and Race: Racism, Identity and Psychoanalytic Theory. A webinar with authors Sheldon George and Derek Hook." Book Launch Webinar. Freud Museum. London, Virtual. July 2021. https://www.freud.org.uk/whats-on/on-demand/talks/lacan-and-race-racism-identity-and-psychoanalytic-theory/

"Sheldon George, 'Trauma and Race: A Lacanian Study of African American Racial Identity.'" New Books in Psychoanalysis. New Books Network. Podcast interview by Tracy Morgan. February 3, 2021. https://newbooksnetwork.com/trauma-and-race

"RU106: Professor Sheldon George on Psychoanalysis, Trauma & Race." Rendering Unconscious podcast. Interview by Dr. Vanessa Sinclair. August, 8th, 2020. http://www.renderingunconscious.org/psychoanalysis/ru106-professor-sheldon-george-on-psychoanalysis-trauma-race/

"The Reign of One's Own Desire: An interview with Sheldon George on his book Trauma and Race: A Lacanian Study of African American Racial Identity." Interviewer Daniel Gaztambide. PublicSeminar.org. The New School Publishing Initiative. February 15, 2020. https://publicseminar.org/2020/01/the-reign-of-ones-own-desire/

"Trauma, Race, and African American Identity." Old Mole Variety Hour. KBOO Portland, Oregon 90.7 FM. Interviewer Janice Haaken. Nov. 28, 2016. http://kboo.fm/media/54224-trauma-race-and-african-american-identity

Presentations

Plenary and Keynotes

"The Suturing of Whiteness: Fantasized Reality and Racial Violence." UBUNTU - 2o. Colóquio Internacional de Decolonização e Psicanálise - O mal-estar colonial: nossas terras, línguas, corpos, memórias e horizontes de transformação. Belo Horizonte, Brasil: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Nov. 2023.

"Lacan's Theory of Race: From Logical Time and the Raced Body to Foreclosure and the Deracinated Psyche." Lack IV: Psychoanalytic Theory in 2023. Vermont University, April, 2023.

"Racism and the Courtly Lady: From the Crusades to the Gentility of Lynchers." Lacan: Clinic and Culture. Duquesne University, October 2022.

Respondent to Keynote by Dr. Homi K. Bhabha. Bhabha's talk: "Systemic Racism and Traumatic Racism: The Long and the Short of It..." Psychology and the Other Conference. Boston, MA: Boston College, Oct. 2021.

"Psychoanalysis, Race and American Slavery: Rereading Pleasure and Discontent in Freud and Lacan." Psychology and the Other Conference. Boston, MA: Boston College, Oct. 2019.

"Racialization and Sexuation: The Channels of Jouissance in the Lacanian Subject." Lack iii: Psychoanalysis and Separation. Worcester, Ma: Clark U, May 2019.

"Frantz Fanon and the Trauma of Race." Frantz Fanon: Concerning the Psychoanalysis and Cosmopolitanism of Violence. Coventry UK: Warwick University, March 2015.

Invited Talks

Invited Speaker. “The Lacanian Subject of Race.” Psychoanalysis Study Group. Dartmouth University. May 2023.

Invited Speaker. “The Neurotic Structure of Race in Freud and Lacan.” Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society. Virtual. Knoxville, TN. Feb. 2023.

Invited Speaker. “Full Speech and Race in Lacanian Theory.” Full Speech in the Present. A symposium organized by the Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis & Culture. SUNY Buffalo. New York. Sept. 2022.

Invited Speaker. “Race and Lacan’s Sexuation Graph.” Psychoanalytic Practices. Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard. Harvard University, Virtual. May 2022.

Invited Speaker. “Race and Myth: From the Ratman to Lacan.” Distinguished Speakers Series. Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study. Seattle, WA, Virtual. April 2022.

Invited Speaker. “Racialization and the Sexuated Lacanian Subject.” Lacan in Scotland. Virtual talk. June 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33PnXKIuvCY

Invited Speaker. “Psychic Death and the Violent Jouissance of Whiteness.” Panel on Topologies of Whiteness: Racializing the Universal Psyche. MLA 2021. Seattle, Virtual. January 2021.

Invited Speaker. “Race in Contemporary America: From Freud to Lacan.” Virtual. New Orleans, LA: The New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center, Feb. 2021.