The Foreskin Question: Considering Perspectives on Circumcision Present and Past
Free, lunch provided, reception to follow, please RSVP. 

In 2011, a San Francisco resident made headlines with the release of his comic book "Foreskin Man." The comic was produced in support of a local initiative to ban male infant circumcision, and featured a grotesquely anti-Semitic characterization of a "Monster Mohel" defeated by the titular Aryan superhero.

The comic book was widely condemned, and the initiative ultimately defeated, yet the anti-circumcision movement continues to gain steam around the world. In this talk, based on my doctoral research, we will explore some of the heavy social and psychological baggage that accompanies perspectives on male circumcision -- both for and against -- drawing on ideas from the discipline of psychoanalysis. All are welcome, no prior knowledge necessary.

Dr. Jordan Osserman, son of CST member Malka Osserman, will be visiting all the way from London as the guest speaker. After the lecture, Malka and her husband Richard Moss will host a reception in honor of Jordan.

Dr. Jordan Osserman, is a Welcome Trust Research Fellow in the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, and a clinical trainee with the Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis. He is currently working on his book, entitled "Circumcision on the Couch," based on his doctoral dissertation. He’s also beginning work on the team of "Waiting Times," a multi-stranded research project opening up what it means to wait in and for healthcare. His writing has been published in outlets such as the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, Transgender Studies Quarterly, and Blunderbuss Magazine, and he is a host on the podcast New Books in Psychoanalysis. Jordan grew up in South Florida.