University of Pittsburgh to Host Author and Psychoanalyst Sue Erikson Bloland Nov. 17

PITTSBURGH-Psychoanalyst Sue Erikson Bloland, daughter of renowned psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson, will discuss how the celebrity of a parent can affect a child's early experiences and family life, followed by a discussion led by Nancy Curry and Roberta Schomburg, regional experts in applied developmental psychology, at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17, Frick Fine Arts Building, Schenley Drive, Oakland.

After the presentation and discussion, Bloland will sign copies of her book In the Shadow of Fame: A Memoir by the Daughter of Erik H. Erikson (Viking, 2005).

Bloland is a member of the faculty of the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis in New York. She recently published articles about fame and public charisma in The Atlantic Monthly and Psychoanalytic Dialogues. Rosanne Cash wrote of Bloland's book, "I wish I had read this book when I was a teenager; she could have saved me about a dozen years of therapy."

Erik Erikson and Benjamin Spock helped to found Pitt's first concentration in childcare in 1953. Nancy Curry worked under Erikson and subsequently served as director of the program, which evolved into Pitt's Department of Applied Developmental Psychology. She is author of Play: The Child Strives Toward Self-Realization (NAEYC, 1971), The Feeling Child: Affective Development Reconsidered (Haworth Press, 1986), and Beyond Self-Esteem (NAEYC, 1990, with Carl Johnson).

Roberta Schomburg is associate dean and director of the School of Education at Carlow University. She completed Pitt's program in child development as part of her doctoral work in the School of Education's Administrative and Policy Studies. With Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, she develops activities for Mister Rogers' Plan and Play Book (Hal Leonard Corporation, fourth edition, 1993). She is vice chair of the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Academic Schools.

This event is sponsored by Pitt's Department of Psychology in Education, the Pittsburgh Association for Psychoanalytic Thought, Community College of Allegheny County Child and Family Studies, Chatham College Graduate Programs in Counseling Psychology, Leadership and Social Work, and the Pittsburgh Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

Tickets are $25 for regular admission, $10 for students with identification, and $30 for social workers seeking continuing education credits. For information on social work continuing education credits, call 412-624-3711. For all other questions, contact Karen VanderVen at kvander@pitt.edu or 412-624-6945.

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11/9/06/tmw