Course Syllabus
| Semester & Location: |
Fall 2025 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: |
History, Psychology, Public Health, Global Health |
| Prerequisite(s): |
None |
| Faculty Members: |
Katrine Kehlet Bechsgaard |
| Time & Place: |
Double block Tuesdays only: 10.05-13.00 N7-B13 |
Course Description
Our everyday lives are increasingly intertwined with questions of mental health, yet mental afflictions are still shrouded in a great deal of stigma. This course explores how experiences of mental illness have changed in relation to cultural and societal developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Drawing on unique source material and the new and thriving theoretical fields of history of emotions, senses and experiences, the course offers an alternative entry into the history of ‘madness’ and the intertwining of family history, mental illness, secrecy, and state development. Focusing on the history and politics of mental illness, the course will also address related questions such as gender, diversity, equality and inclusion.
During the last centuries the knowledge practices related to mental afflictions have changed dramatically. From being handled in seclusion at home or in an institution, mental illnesses are now mainly dealt with through out-patient medical treatment, and psychiatric diagnoses are commonly shared. Applying a history of experience approach to mental afflictions, the students will work with and analyze multiple kinds of empirical sources, conceptualized as ‘cultural testimonies’ – patient records, oral history interviews and fiction.
Overall, we will focus on how the shifting cultural dynamics of secrecy and disclosure have shaped the situated, individual and collective experiences of mental suffering. The cases and text will primarily derive from a Danish and European context, but the course also includes comparative, global and transnational perspectives.
Learning Objectives
- Insight into to the history and politics of mental health.
- Acquaintance with the theoretical fields history of emotion, senses and experiences and neurodiversity research.
- Introduction to different methodologies and analytical strategies.
- Practical engagement with cultural analysis and creative research.
- Experience with transdisciplinary thinking.
Faculty
Katrine Kehlet Bechsgaard
I have a PhD in Sociolinguistics from the University of Copenhagen, and my research has focused on naming and labeling of individuals and mental conditions, how perceptions of normality and divergence vary and evolve, and the neurodiversity paradigm. I have been a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, and I have a Master's in Danish from the University of Copenhagen, including studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Readings
(Examples of readings: Selection and excerpts of the following books and articles - not a complete list):
Barnwell, Ashley (2019). “Family Secrets and the Slow Violence of Social Stigma.” Sociology 53, no. 6, 1111–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519846443
Bechsgaard, Katrine K. (2025). "The Significance of Labels. From Shy and Lazy to Autistic and ADHD." In Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture. Vol. 6, Issue 2. DOI: 10.9707/2833-1508.1221
Cohen, Deborah (2013). Family Secrets: Living with Shame from the Victorians to the Present Day. London: Viking, 2013.
Ditlevsen, Tove (1991). The Faces. Seattle: Fjord Press.
Frydendahl Larsen, Bolette (2017). “When the Problem of Incorrigible Girls Became a Problem of Psychopathy.” In Nordic Girlhoods, 137–159. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Grinker, Roy Richard (2021). Nobody’s Normal. How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Hamilton, Lauren (2019). Disability as a Social Construction: Investigating How Autism is Represented in the Mainstream Media. Prism: Casting New Light on Learning, Theory and Practice, 2(2), 20-38.
Kirkebæk, Birgit (2005). “Sexuality as Disability: The Women on Sprog⊘ and Danish Society.” Scandinavian journal of disability research : SJDR 7, no. 3-4, 194–205.
Koch, Lene (2004). “The Meaning of Eugenics: Reflections on the Government of Genetic Knowledge in the Past and the Present.” Science in context 17, no. 3, 315–331.
Kragh, Jesper Vaczy (2021). Lobotomy Nation: the History of Psychosurgery and Psychiatry in Denmark. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Link, B. G., Cullen, F. T., Frank, J. & Wozniak, J. F. (1987). The social rejection of former mental patients: Understanding why labels matter. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 1461-1500.
Meier, Marie (2021). “The Mentally Ill: From Insane to User of Psychiatry.” In Citizen Categories in the Danish Welfare State: From the Founding Epoch to the Neoliberal Era. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag.
Parker, Ian, Georgaca, Eugene, Harper, David, McLaughlin, Terence & Stowell-Smith, Mark (1995). Deconstructing Psychopathology. London: SAGE Publications.
Singer, Judy (2017). Neurodiversity. The birth of an idea. Judy Singer.
Skram, Amalie (1899). Professor Hieronimus. London ; John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1899.
Field Studies
The field study days will give us the opportunity to make excursions to former psychiatric hospitals or other relevant institutions connected to the history and politics of mental health.
Examples could be:
Visit to Psychiatric Center Sct. Hans in Roskilde, including guided tour in the small art museum with works from former patients: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psykiatrisk_Center_Sct._Hans#/media/Fil:SanktHans.jpgLinks to an external site.
Visit the Center for Art and Mental Health on Amager: https://ckms.dk/Links to an external site.
Visit to the newly establish Center for Culture and the Mind at University of Copenhagen: https://cultmind.ku.dk/Links to an external site.
Guest Lecturers
In some sessions, we will have visits from scholars and/or artists working within the fields of history of emotion, history of psychiatry, and with perspectives on mental health. Their insights will enrich our discussions.
Approach to Teaching
The course will – besides field studies - be composed by overview sessions, student presentations, joint discussions, guest lectures, reading and analysis of theoretical texts and empirical sources. Not least due to the sensitivity of the topic, it is important for me to create a safe and comfortable learning environment.
Expectations of the Students
The course is dedicated to curious and ambitious students, who will read theoretical text, engage with critical thinking and participate actively in discussions and creative tasks. There will be group work and joint ventures, while it is also possible to adjust the learning styles to individual and special needs or accommodations.
Structure and content
We will work with The History of Emotion and Mental Health though 6 interconnected themes:
Theme 1: Shifting Perceptions of Mental Illness: In and Out of Pathologization
Theme 2: A History of Experience Approach to Mental Health
Theme 3: Stigmatization, Othering and Labeling
Theme 4: Mental Illness and the State: From Insane to User of Psychiatry
Theme 5: Gender and Mental Illness
Theme 6: Neurodiversity: A Social Approach
Evaluation & Grading
- Engaged participation, commentary on text(s) and contribution to discussions 25 %
- Study group presentation 25 %
- Synopsis + presentation of creative research project in class 25 %
- Concluding vision essay 25%
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
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