Psychic Militancy and Anti-Imperialism
Join us for a conversation on the war on Iran, Lebanon, how to understand it in the broader context of US imperialism, and how to hold the chaos and grief within our bodies and collectively.
Lara Sheehi is a Research Fellow at the University of South Africa's Institute for Social and Health Sciences and the founding faculty director of the Psychoanalysis and the Arab World Lab. Lara’s work is committed to decolonial and feminist methodologies and is especially interested in psychoanalysis, the psychic refusals central to liberation struggles and life-making in the Global South, the psychic dimensions of resistance and revolution, and critical Zionist studies. She is co-author with Stephen Sheehi of Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine (Routledge, 2022) which won the Middle East Monitor's 2022 Palestine Book Award for Best Academic Book. Lara is the past President of the Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (APA, Division 39) and co-editor of Studies in Gender and Sexuality. Lara is a member of the founding collective for the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism and is on the advisory board for Forensic Architecture. Lara’s new book, From the Clinic to the Street: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary Futures will be published with Pluto Press in May 2026.
Malak Rafla is a physician who works in the Boston area and has been serving many of its communities for over 15 years. Malak is also a member of Healthcare workers for Palestine, Doctors Against Genocide, Runners for Justice in Palestine and he is also an assistant professor in psychiatry at Harvard.
Our café will be open throughout the evening with drinks and light offerings. As a nonprofit, purchases from the café help sustain Minara and support the care, labor, and resources that make this space possible.
Please note: This event is free and open to all. Those who are able are invited to make a $20 suggested donation (or more) to help sustain Minara and the care, labor, and resources that make this space possible. No one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.
RSVPs help us plan and follow up but do not guarantee a seat. Seating is mixed: chairs, floor, and standing room. Walk-ins are welcome until we reach our 50-person capacity.