Paul Stenner: The Experience of Time in Pandemics and Beyond - Views from an Open Psychology

For many, the pandemic has introduced the paradoxical feeling of living through momentous change while also experiencing a sense of something akin to paralysis. This talk unpacks the experience of time and explores how ‘the present’ can be disrupted by liminal events, sometimes transforming the future into a past future whilst calling out for a future. Paul Stenner offers a novel understanding of cultural experiencing, and shows why play, art and culture more generally become particularly valuable during such events.

We asked Professor Paul Stenner about his talk after the OPRC launch event. His answers can be viewed in this OU Psychology & Counselling blog.

Key Readings:

Stenner, Paul (2021). The Psychology of Global Crisis through the lens of liminal experience: Stuck in the middle with SARS-CoV-2. In: M.Dege, I.Strasser (Eds). Global Pandemics and Epistemic Crises in Psychology: A Socio-Philosophical Approach. Abbingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Stenner, Paul and Zittoun, Tania (2020). On taking a leap of faith. Art, Imagination and liminal experiences. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. 40(4), 240-263.

Stenner, Paul; O'Dell, Lindsay and Davies, Alison (2019). Adult women and ADHD: on the temporal dimensions of ADHD identities. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. 49(2), 179-197.