History 4340 Madness and Society (Winter 2025)

This course examines the history of madness in comparative context from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the present with a focus on Europe and North America. Topics include major historical developments in the understanding of madness such as traditional responses to unsoundness of mind, the development of asylums, the rise of professional psychiatry, scientific models of mental illness, and the community care movement. Pivotal theorists, including Freud, Kraepelin, Foucault, and Szasz are discussed.