Ithaca College

Historian Jonathan Ablard presented at a conference at the Instituto Mora in Mexico City.

His paper, “Archivos, derechos humanos, y psiquiatría en Argentina” [Archives, Human Rights and Psychiatry in Argentina] was part of the conference “Pasado y presente de la salud mental: viejos y nuevos desafíos”[Past and Present in Mental Health: Old and New Challenges] sponsored by the Instituto Mora.  In addition, Dr. Ablard spent two days participating in a workshop entitled “El estudio del campo ‘psi’ en América Latina desde las ciencias sociales: aspectos teóricos y metodológicos” [Social Science Research on the ‘psi’ Field in Latin America: Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives] at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México sponsored by grant Proyecto PAPIIT IN302917 of UNAM. 

Dr. Ablard’s invited presentation and workshop paper addressed the relationship of political repression in Argentina to psychiatric hospitals and mental health professionals. The work is an extension of his 2008 book Madness in Buenos Airesand seeks to reevaluate his arguments in light of newly released documents and publications. The work also works in dialogue with relevant literature and documents from Mexico, Chile, the United States, and Eastern Europe.