Scholarly Interests

Britzman research concerns the histories of psychoanalysis with education. Known for her formulaton of "difficult knowledge", her studies of the emotional situation of teaching and learning now turn to questions of the historicity of social toleration, the notion of the social bond and mental health.Britzman was recently awarded a Tier 1 York Chair in Pedagogy and psychosocial transformations, a five year appointment.

Faculty & School/Dept

• Faculty of Education

• Faculty of Graduate Studies, Education -

Selected Publications

• Deborah Britzman (2024). When History Returns: Psychoanalytic Quests for Humane Learning. SUNY Press
• Deborah Britzman (2017). Mrs. Klein and Paulo Freire: On the Pain of symbolization in the lifeworld of the mind. Educational Theory (67:1), 83-95.
• Britzman, D. P. (2016). Melanie Klein: Early analysis, play and the question of freedom. Springer Press
• Britzman, D. P. (2015). A Psychoanalyst in the Classroom. Albany: NY: SUNY Press
• Britzman, D. (2011). Freud and Education. Routledge
• Britzman, D.P. (2010). "On the madness of lecturing on gender. Journal of Gender and Education, 2(6), 633-646.
• Britzman, D.P. (2010). "Psychoanalytic observations on ordinary, quiet, and painful resistance. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 13(3), 239-248.
• Britzman, D.P. (2009). "The Poetics of supervision: A psychoanalytic thought experiment. Changing English, 16(4), 385-396.
• Britzman, D. P. (2009). The Very Thought of Education: Psychoanalysis and the impossible professions. SUNY Press
• Britzman, D. P. (2006). Novel Education: Psychoanalytic Studies on learning and not learning. Peter Lang
• Britzman, D. P. (2003). Practice Makes Practice: Revised edition. SUNY Press
• Britzman, D. P. (2003). After-Education: Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, and psychoanalytic histories of learning. SUNY Press
• Britzman, D. P. (1998). Lost subjects, constested objects: toward a psychoanalytic inquiry of learning. SUNY Press

Selected Presentations

• Britzman (2011, July). "The Adolescent teacher: a psychoanalytic contribution to developing education. Presented at: Keynote to: Contemporary theory and Mathmatics, Manchester UK
• Britzman (2011, July). "What is the Use of theory?". Presented at: Keynote to: Qualitative Summer Institute, Manchester, UK

Research Projects

The emotional world of teaching: A psychoanalytic inquiry

When History Returns

Book

Awards

• Hans Loewald Memorial Reward, Internal Forum for Psychoanalytic Education - 2015
• Fellow of Royal Society of Canada, Royal Society of Canada - Lifetime
• Tier 1 York Chair, Pedagogy and psychosocial transformations - 2017-

Service/Community Activities

• Toronto Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis, 3 year program: Director, Academic for the Three year psychotherapy training program in Toronto