Course Syllabus
History of Emotion and Mental Health
| Semester & Location: |
Fall 2024 - DIS Copenhagen |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: |
History, Psychology, Public Health, Global Health |
| Prerequisite(s): |
None |
| Faculty Members: |
Marie Meier |
| Time & Place: |
Double block Tuesdays only: 10.05-13.00 |
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
- Insights into to the history and politics of mental health
- Acquaintance with the theoretical fields: history of emotion, senses and experiences
- Introduction to different historical methodologies and analytical strategies
- Practical engagement with cultural analysis and creative research
- Experience with transdisciplinary thinking
Faculty
Marie Meier I have a Ph.D. in History of Experience/Cultural Studies from the University of Copenhagen (2022), and have been affiliated to Max Planck Institute Berlin, Center for the History of Emotions as a visiting scholar (2020). My further educational background includes a Master in Second Language Acquisition from The Danish School of Education (2013), a Master of Arts in ‘Angewandte Literaturwissenschaft’ som Free University Berlin (2007), and a Bachelor in Comparative Literature and Modern Culture Studies from The University of Copenhagen (2004). Besides lecturing at DIS and being Academic Coordinator for the Danish Language and Culture classes, I am also editor of science at the online magazine Eftertryk and independent researcher affiliated to University of Lund, Department of Health Sciences.
Readings
(Examples of readings: Selection and excerpts of the following books and articles - not a complete list):
Barnwell, Ashley. “Family Secrets and the Slow Violence of Social Stigma.”
Sociology 53, no. 6 (2019): 1111–26.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519846443
Barett, Lisa Feldman. How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain.
London: Pan Macmillan, 2018.
Boddice, Rob. “The Developing Brain as Historical Artifact” 55, no. 9 (2019):
1994–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000758
Boddice, Rob, and Mark Smith. Emotion, Sense, Experience. Cambridge:
University of Cambridge, 2020.
Cohen, Deborah. Family Secrets: Living with Shame from the Victorians to the
Present Day. London: Viking, 2013.
Ditlevsen, Tove. The Faces. Seattle: Fjord Press, 1991.
Frantzen, Mikkel Krause. Going Nowhere, Slow: Scenes of Depression in
Contemporary Literature and Culture: PhD Thesis. Kbh: Department of
Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen, 2017.
Frydendahl Larsen, Bolette. “When the Problem of Incorrigible Girls Became a Problem of Psychopathy.” In Nordic Girlhoods, 137–159. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017.
Fuchs, Thomas. Ecology of the Brain: The Phenomenology and Biology of the
Embodied Mind. International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry.
Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Kirkebæk, Birgit. “Sexuality as Disability: The Women on Sprog⊘ and Danish Society.” Scandinavian journal of disability research : SJDR 7, no. 3-4 (2005): 194–205.
Koch, Lene. “The Meaning of Eugenics: Reflections on the Government of Genetic Knowledge in the Past and the Present.” Science in context 17, no. 3 (2004): 315–331.
Kragh, Jesper Vaczy. Lobotomy Nation: the History of Psychosurgery and Psychiatry in Denmark. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2021.
Kragh, Jesper Vaczy. “Shock Therapy in Danish Psychiatry.” Medical history 54, no. 3 (2010): 341–364.
Meier, Marie. “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, 2021.
Rose, Nikolas. “Neurochemical Selves.” Soc Society 41, no. 1 (2003): 46–59.
———. Our Psychiatric Future: The Politics of Mental Health. Cambridge: Polity
Press, 2019.
Scott, Joan W. “The Evidence of Experience.” Critical Inquiry 17, no. 4 (1991):
773–97. https://doi.org/10.1086/448612.
Skram, Amalie. Professor Hieronimus. London ; John Lane, The Bodley Head,
1899.
Smart, Carol. “Families, Secrets and Memories.” Sociology 45, no. 4 (August
2011): 539–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038511406585
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.jpg
Visit the newly established Center for Art and Mental Health on Amager: https://ckms.dk/
Visit to the newly establish Center for Culture and the Mind at University of Copenhagen: https://cultmind.ku.dk/
Guest Lecturers
In some sessions we will have visits from scholars working within the field of history of emotion and history of psychiatry, and from authors and artists working with perspectives on mental health. Their insight 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 sensitiveness of the topic, it is important for me to create a safe, comfortable, and trustful learning environment.
Expectations of the Students
The course is dedicated to curious and ambitious students, who are found of reading theoretical text, engage with critical thinking, and are willing to participate actively in discussions and creative tasks. There will be group work, peer review and joint ventures, but it is also possible to adjust the learning styles to individual and special needs or accommodations.
Focusing on the history and politics of mental illness, the course will also address related questions such as gender, diversity, equality and inclusion.
Structure and content
We will work with 'the history of emotions and mental health' though these
5 interconnected themes:
Part I: Introducing a History of Experience Approach to Mental Health
Part II: Mental Illness and the State: From Insane to User of Psychiatry
Part III: Gendered Experiences of Mental Illness
Part IV: Historical Methodologies: Exploring Experiences of Mental Illness Through Fiction, Oral History, and Patient Records
Part V: Mental Illness Between the Humanities and the Neurosciences: New Pathways for Transdisciplinary Perspectives and Cooperation?
Grading & Evaluation
- Engaged participation & contribution (incl. discussions and text summary) 25 %
- Small port folio assignments for each thematic block 25 %
- Oral presentation of synopsis and research idea 20 % (group assignment)
- Creative concluding research project (group assignment) 30 %
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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