HIS 566SEM - A History of Madness

This course explores the social history of madness (also called insanity or mental illness) from the 18th century to the present, focusing on patient, inmate, consumer, and psych-survivor perspectives of madness; on the establishment and growth of the mental health professions–most notably psychiatry; on practices of institutionalization; and on the global psycho-pharmaceutical industry. Course content emphasizes the US context but also includes Western Europe and colonial contexts. Topics for consideration include: histories of treatment; history of institutionalization and confinement; role of DSM & the pharmaceutical industry in shifting definition of mental disorders; madness and art/literature; the relationship between madness and sense; and the anti-psychiatry and psych-survivor movements. The course examines madness or mental illness as historically variable phenomena, asking how this perspective changes our understanding not only of madness but of history and even knowledge itself.

Credits: 3

Term Typically Offered: Fall