A SERIOUS MAN: CULTURAL COMMENTARY

AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

Sunday, January 13, 2013

10:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Sam Naifeh, M.D.

Karen Naiefeh, PH.D.

Seth Isaiah Rubin, PH.D.

Steve Zemmelman, PH.D.

2.5 Continuing Education Credits for MD, PhD, MFT, LCSW, & RN

At The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco 

3200 California Street  San Francisco, CA 94118

visit https://www.jccsf.org/the-center/general-information/directions/ for directions and parking information. 

Probably the most personal of the Coen Brothers’ films, A Serious Man tells the tale of a middle age Jewish man attempting to deal with love, family, work and death. Following a mysterious frame story set in an Eastern European shtetl (Yiddish for town) long ago, A Serious Man unfolds in a Minneapolis suburb circa 1967, where and when the Coens themselves grew up. The story wrestles with the human ordeal using, curiously, the motif of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

Joel and Ethan Coen create enigmatic characters and situational tales in the diverse local color of American culture. While they challenge their film characters, who encounter personal limits, they also challenge the audience in the process.

The four commentators are Jungian analysts who have viewed A Serious Man together on several occasions and wrestled with each other about its meaning. Each of us has been deeply moved by the film and has come away from our reflections and discussions realizing how rich a more extended viewer dialogue would be.

Steve Zemmelman will introduce the course and the film. A viewing of the 106-minute film follows. Then, each of the four analysts will provide a 30-minute response to the film. There will be another brief break following the fourth presentation after which Seth Rubin will moderate a panel and audience interaction. The audience will be invited to participate with comments and questions, and to engage in a dialogue with the members of the panel. Before we end, we will attempt to reach some cogent conclusions – or, better still, some additional intriguing questions!

“A SERIOUS MAN”: FILM NOIR PERSPECTIVES IN AMERICAN CULTURE

SAM NAIFEH, M.D., is an analyst member of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco where he participates in the training program. He is in private practice in San Francisco and San Mateo. 

(THE) INTERPRETATION OF “A SERIOUS MAN” AS A FAIRY TALE

SETH ISAIAH RUBIN, PH.D., has trained at the University of Pennsylvania in clinical psychology, while serving on the faculty of four departments in the Medical School, and subsequently earned a diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich; he has served in various capacities as a professional member of the San Francisco Jung Institute since 1993. His long standing interests include Kabbalah and psychotherapy research, and he is currently at work on a new book, Preparing for the Mystery of Death.

“RED BOOK” AMPLIFICATIONS OF “A SERIOUS MAN”

KAREN NAIFEH, PH.D., is an analyst member of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and an incoming member of the Institute Curriculum Committee. Her analytic practice with adults is located in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Mateo, CA. Her areas of special interest are trauma, the shadow, and alchemy. She holds a doctorate in medical physiology as well as clinical psychology, and was Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco for eleven years, where she did research in the areas of sleep, meditation and biofeedback.

LIMINALITY AND THRESHOLD IN “A SERIOUS MAN”

STEVE ZEMMELMAN, M.S.W., PH.D., is an analyst member of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco and chair of the Institute’s Extended Education program. He is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco, lecturer in the School of Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley, and core faculty member at the Sanville Institute for Clinical Social Work and Psychotherapy. He is in private practice of Jungian analysis and psychotherapy in San Francisco and Berkeley. Dr. Zemmelman has published numerous papers in professional journals over the past twenty-five years on a range of topics including children and families, psychotherapy, Jungian studies, and spirituality.

The Jung Institute of San Francisco is accredited by the Institute of Medical Quality/California Medical Association (IMQ/CMA) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.The Jung Institute of San Francisco takes responsibility for the content, quality and scientific integrity of this CME activity. 2.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ are offered for this event.