TAJAN, Nicolas Pierre Associate Professor

Message to the prospective students

◆Laboratory of Psychopathology and Psychoanalysis, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies of Kyoto University.
Associate Professor Takuya MATSUMOTO and Program-Specific Associate Professor Nicolas TAJAN.
Our specialized fields are psychopathology, psychoanalysis (especially Lacanian psychoanalysis), history of psychiatry, psychobiography (pathography), and contemporary French theory. We regularly organize Kyoto University International Mental Health Seminar. Details on the lab's website https://psy.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp/index.php/en/seminars/ and facebook https://www.facebook.com/kuimhs/

◆About the entrance exams
For those who wish to study abroad at Kyoto University, please check this website: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/education-campus/
If you need to learn the basics of the specialized field of our laboratory, we encourage you to first apply as a “research student”.
If you have already studied psychopathology or psychoanalysis professionally at a research institution such as a graduate school and/or already have experience in academic presentation or paper writing, we encourage you to apply to the master’s course or doctor’s course.
Those who have graduated from a university in China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, and wish to enroll in Kyoto University as a research, master’s or doctoral student, are required to contact the Admissions Assistance Office (AAO) for a preliminary screening before submitting their application documents to the relevant graduate school.

◆Message from N. Tajan
If you want to learn how to diagnose mental disorders (e.g., autism, schizophrenia, depression, PTSD), psychopathology class is the right place for you. Psychopathology is the interdisciplinary study of mental disorders, and my ILAS seminar introduces major disciplines contributing to the field. But wait a second. Why should we always think in terms of “disorders”? Are there other ways to approach human distress? Yes, there are, and one of them has a very specific status between Science and Art: psychoanalysis. My classes are a very rare and unique opportunity to learn from a psychoanalyst, in the academic setting, about Freudian and Lacanian theories and clinics. Students sharing the ideal of an Enlightenment knotting East and West and willing to bring a renewed horizon for the next generations are warmly welcome to attend these classes. For their path to success in the global economy cannot be achieved without a genuine awareness of the burden, and the challenges of mental health issues.