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The Western History of Madness from the Bible to DSM-5

Semester and Year SP 2023
Course Number IDSEM-UG1961
Section 001
Instructor Orna Ophir
Days Fri
Time 11:00 AM - 1:45 PM
Units 4
Level U
Requirement  
Humanities
Premodern
Tags  

Notes

Description

Viewed as a natural kind or socially constructed, "madness” was defined and treated, examined and controlled, diagnosed and cured according to the spirit of the time. This course follows the varied social imageries of “madness” throughout Western history, from the Hebrew Bible to the contemporary and controversial Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM), also known as "the bible of psychiatry", in its most recent 5th edition. Students read primary and secondary texts by philosophers, physicians, theologians, jurists, tragedians, novelists, psychologists, social reformers, policy makers, journalists, historians and individuals who suffered madness, known as "experts from experience." They also observe art and watch films that portray different aspects of madness. Reading includes: the Bible, Plato, Hippocrates, Ibn Sina, Margery Kempe, Erasmus, Robert Burton, Freud, George Canguilhem, Foucault, Ian Hacking, Elaine Showalter, Ruth Leys among others. The course explores the interaction between the social, cultural, scientific, political as well as economic factors that have shaped the views of “madness” and its treatment while paying ample attention to the history of ideas that informed and, often, framed them.  

Syllabus

All Syllabi

Course Type

Interdisciplinary Seminars

Instruction Mode

In-person