Robert Bush Lemelson is an American cultural anthropologist and film producer. He received his M.A. from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Lemelson's area of specialty is transcultural psychiatry; Southeast Asian Studies, particularly Indonesia; and psychological and medical anthropology. He is a research anthropologist in the Semel Institute of Neuroscience UCLA, and an adjunct professor of anthropology at UCLA. His scholarly work has appeared in journals and books. Lemelson founded Elemental Productions in 2008, a documentary production company, and has directed and produced numerous ethnographic films.
Lemelson is involved in a number of philanthropic ventures. He is the president of The Foundation for Psychocultural Research, a research foundation that supports work integrating the social and neurosciences. He also acts a director for The Lemelson Foundation, a foundation started by his father Jerome Lemelson to support inventors, invention and innovation in the United States and the developing world. Lemelson has also funded a number of programs supporting scholarship and research in Anthropology through the Robert Lemelson Foundation, which is a separate foundation from The Lemelson Foundation. These include the Lemelson Anthropological Scholars program at UCLA, and the Lemelson-SPA conference fund and the Lemelson-SPA student fellows program administered by the Society for Psychological Anthropology.
Filmography Film title Type Release date Short Synopsis TRT Tajen Documentary short 2016 A sensory ethnography exploring multiple elements of the Balinese cockfight. 29 minBitter Honey Documentary Feature 2015 Chronicles the lives of three polygamous families living in Bali, Indonesia. The film follows the wives from their introduction to the polygamous lifestyle to the emotional hardships and jealousies to their struggle for empowerment and equal rights. 81 minStanding on the Edge of a Thorn Documentary short 2013 A portrait of a family in rural Central Java, Indonesia grappling with poverty, mental illness, and participation in the sex trade. 33 minJathilan: Trance and Possession in Java Documentary Short 2012 A film about Jathilan, a folk dance practiced for centuries in Java that uses the power of music and dance to channel powerful and sometimes terrifying forces. 27 minNgaben: Emotion and Restraint in a Balinese Heart Documentary Short 2012 A film about the Balinese funerary ritual called Ngaben. 27 minMemory of My Face Documentary Short 2011 Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Bambang Rudjito and illustrates how the residues of colonialism and the pervasive influence of globalization affects the subjective experience of mental illness. 22 minRitual Burdens Documentary Short 2011 Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Ni Ketut Kasih and questions how communal spiritual obligations may be folded into personal schemas of stress to trigger episodes of mental illness 25 minKites and Monsters Documentary Short 2011 Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Wayan Yoga from boyhood to manhood and discovers the aspects of culture that may guide developmental neuropsychiatric processes. 22 minShadows and Illuminations Documentary Short 2010 Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Nyoman Kereta and explores how non-normative mental events and behavior, including auditory and visual hallucinations, can be understood or interpreted in multiple ways. 35 minThe Bird Dancer Documentary Short 2010 Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Gusti Ayu Suartini and focuses on the social stigma of neuropsychiatric disorder and the human suffering it entails. 40 minFamily Victim Documentary Short 2010 Part of the documentary series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia - Volume 1, Psychotic Disorders. The film follows Estu Wardhani and examines the bi-directional influences between an individual considered to have a disruptive or troublesome personality and his social world. 38 min40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy Documentary Feature 2009 The first documentary to explore the personal effects of the mass killings 500,000 to over a million people in Indonesia in 1965–66. The film follows the testimonies of four individuals and their families. 96 minMovements and Madness Documentary feature 2006 The story of an anthropologist's search to understand a person with a severe neuropsychiatric disorder in rural Indonesia, and the ethical dilemmas involved when a research scientist attempts to aid his subject.http://deadcenter.bside.com/2007/films/movementsandmadnessgustiayu_deadcenter 71 min
Select Journal Articles
Select Book Chapters "Afflictions: Psychopathology and Recovery in a Cultural Context" by Lemelson, R., and Tucker, A., in Kirmayer, L., Lemelson, R., and Cummings, C. eds. in Revisioning psychiatry: Cultural Phenomenology, Critical Neuroscience and Global Mental Health. 483–514. 2015. "Fear and Silence in Burma and Indonesia: Comparing Two National Tragedies and Two Individual Outcomes of Trauma" by Lemelson, R., Thein-Lemelson, S. in Ataria, Y., Gurevitz, D., Pedaya, H., and Neria, Y. eds. in Interdisciplinary Handbook of Trauma and Culture. 2016. "Anak PKI!: Multigenerational Trauma in a Javanese boy" by Lemelson, R., Ng, Emily and Supartini, N. in Worthman, C., Plotsky, P., Schecter, D. and Cummings C. Formative Experiences: The Interaction of Caregiving, Culture, and Developmental Psychobiology Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010 "Children and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" by Lemelson, R. in Shweder, R. et al. Ed. Chicago Companion to the Child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. "Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Traditional Healing in Indonesia: The Question of Efficacy" by Lemelson, R. in Maldonado, M. ed. Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health. London, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. "Trauma in Context: Integrating Biological, Clinical and Cultural Perspectives" by Lemelson, R., Kirmayer, L, Barad, M. in Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. eds. Understanding Trauma: Integrating Cultural, Psychological and Biological Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. "Epilogue: Trauma and the Vicissitudes of Interdisciplinary Integration" by Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. in Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. eds. Understanding Trauma: Integrating Cultural, Psychological and Biological Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2007
Edited volumes
Understanding Trauma: Integrating Cultural, Psychological and Biological Perspectives. Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Barad, M. eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Re-Visioning Psychiatry: Cultural Phenomenology, Critical Neuroscience and Global Mental Health. Kirmayer, L, Lemelson, R., Cummings, C. eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.]
Books
Afflictions: Steps Toward A Visual Psychological Anthropology. Lemelson, R. Tucker, A. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2017.]
References
External links
40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy (Official Website) Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia Film Series (Official Website) Jathilan: Trance and Possession in Java (Official Website) Documentary Educational Resources (Educational Distributor's Website) UCLA Department of Anthropology faculty page The Foundation for Psychocultural Research