Psyche is the Greek word for “soul,” and from it emerged the myth of Psyche and Eros. The tale focuses on the journey of the human soul toward self-discovery and integration–– and is therefore intertwined with the field of psychology. Since the second half of the 19th century (with the research of Sigmund Freud, Karl Jung, and Jacques Lacan), there has always been a growing interest in the interdisciplinarity between psychology and other fields of the humanities, such as literature, linguistics, history, and pedagogy. A similar trend occurred in scientific fields, for instance in 1981, when Robert Endleman published a book entitled Psyche and Society which examined psychoanalysis and sociology. We have also seen the growth of fields such as educational psychology, psycholinguistics, literary psychoanalysis, and historical psychoanalysis. History provides a context for understanding psychological phenomena, as psychology offers insights into the values and motivations of groups throughout history. Psychology intersects with education in questions of motivation, passion, and wellness. Linguistics, forensic, and Critical Discourse Analysis reveal perspectives and power. Language studies, whether linguistics or translation, invite an exploration of psychology as a cultural perspective. Interdisciplinary texts like travel literature, (auto) biographies, films, and social media texts open the door to a rich take on the psyche. As for literature, it has a very strong correlation to psychology because both deal with human beings and their reactions. Readers' questions about characters are the same ones we might ask about a friend or family member. Some of the most intriguing intersections between literature, psychology, and the mind emphasize the complex relationship between literature and psychoanalysis. Works by authors such as William Shakespeare, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allan Poe, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger have been praised for the psychological depth and realism of their characters. Tawfik al-Hakim’s The People of the Cave and the works of Gabriel García Márquez have been noted for their exploration of psychological time, dream logic, and the blurred boundaries between reality and illusion, drawing on both philosophical and psychoanalytic themes to challenge conventional notions of temporality and consciousness. Texts such as Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Hoffman’s “Sandman” reflect the architecture of the mind. Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex and Naguib Mahfouz’s The Beginning and the End reflect complex family dynamics. The scriptural stories of Cain and Abel, Joseph, and the myth of Isis and Osiris, as well as The Brothers Karamazov, interrogate sibling rivalry. The historical narrative of conflict between Mary I and Elizabeth I of England and the collapse of the Carolingian dynasty show similar themes in history. With the advent of Trauma Theory by Kathy Caruth, who explored the connections between trauma and literature, highlighting the ways in which language can represent traumatic experiences. Notable works that explore these themes include Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony, and the works of several authors writing Palestinian literature, such as Susan Abulhawa. Toni Morrison’s use of fragmented dialogue has been studied from a psycholinguistic perspective to reflect the disturbed emotional and cognitive states of characters suffering from trauma, memory loss, and marginalization. More recently, critics from the Global South have started contributing to the field; notable examples include Sara Ahmed’s The Cultural Politics of Emotion and Mustafa Safwan’s psychoanalytic readings on the situation of Middle Easterners in contemporary times. Long before the rise of modern psychology, scholars from the Medieval Islamic Golden Age—such as al-Ghazali, al-Razi, Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, and Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi—made foundational contributions to the field of psychology. It is even suggested that Sigmund Freud may have drawn inspiration from Ibn Sīrīn’s Interpretation of Dreams, borrowing its title for his own seminal work on dream theory. z

We are soliciting abstracts from the fields of literature, linguistics, history, and education that explore the intersections between psychology and the humanities. This event invites creative, comparative, and interdisciplinary papers that contribute to this rich and evolving conversation. We welcome contributions from established scholars, early career researchers, and graduate students from around the world who are interested in bridging disciplinary boundaries to explore the role of psychology in shaping culture, language, identity, and society. This conference aims to deepen and expand the conversation around how psychological theories—both historical and contemporary—interact with humanistic inquiry.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:
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Humanities & developing psychoanalytic thought
Historical shifts in representations of the mind
Psychology and/in history
Psychosexual development, affects, and emotions
Anxiety, depression, and trauma
Psychosis and hallucinations
Archetypes, motifs, individuation, and mythologies
Dreams, nightmares, and fantasy​
The Uncanny, abjection, hysteria, and melancholia
Psychology and the rewriting of myths
Psychological tropes in travel literature
Psychology, water, and river journeys
Psychology in film and media
Psychology and children’s literature
psychology and dis/location
Psychoanalysis in the Global South
Psychology, empowerment, and inclusion
Psychology and new literary genres
Coming-of-age narratives & Bildungsroman
Women, power, & Psychology
Alienation and marginalization
Psychology of minorities
Psyche, identity, class, and ethnicity
Marxism and psychoanalysis
postcolonial theory and psychoanalysis
Sufism and psychoanalytic theory
Self and nature/ psychoanalytic eco-criticism
Environment and inner sustainability
Ancient & medieval roots of psychological thought
Psychology in the Islamic Golden Age
Society, Individual, and psychoanalysis
Psychology of marginalized students
Multimodality and educational psychology
Discourse, stylistic, and conversation analysis
Psycholinguistics and AI
AI, psychology, and education
Psycho-Cultural and educational dynamics
​Cognitive psychology
Cognitive approaches to translation/interpretation
Trauma, empathy, and emotions in translation
Language, the unconscious, and identity
​Language and psychology
The psychology of the translator
Cultural transfer and mental schemas
Psychology, sociology, and anthropology
Neuroprogramming
Cognitive Modelling
Cognitive Aspects of SI
Translator's Identity
Posthuman Translation Approaches
Translation Cognitive Dynamics
Socio-cognitive Imaging of Translators