Cary Library to host online lecture

On March 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., the Cary Library will partner with the University of New England’s Center for Global Humanities to provide local discussions and live streaming of Emily Martin’s lecture on “Bipolar Expeditions: Mania and Depression in American Culture.”
    Martin’s lecture will start at 5:30 p.m. with a facilitated discussion led by Kathy Olmstead. She will present a brief introduction of Emily Martin and her work, which will then lead into the streamed lecture coming from the UNE Center for Global Humanities. Following the lecture there will be time for a question and answer period.
UNE’s Center for Global Humanities is a public forum designed to introduce students and members of the public to the exploration of the great issues facing humanity today. Participants are encouraged to read the book ahead of time.
Professor Martin will explore psychiatric categories involving emotion through ethnographic fieldwork in the contemporary US. She will ask how these categories are culturally created, measured and applied in relation to gender and race; then modified, contested, and rejected in contexts such as clinical rounds, patient advocacy support groups, and internet newsgroups. Some issues raised include: What definitions of rationality do mood disorders entail? What are the implications for the personhood of the patient of treating “irrational” mood disorders with psychotropic drugs intended to “manage” them? This program welcomes everyone to participate and is free of charge.