Critical Social Inquiry 0174 - Minding Culture

This course will introduce the students to the major controversies debated in the study of mental illness and culture. Two major debates in clinical psychology are highlighted: nature vs. nurture and the individual vs. society. The course is part of a series of seminars designed to explore the epistemological, theoretical, and methodological implications of our modern concept of mental illness. Psychological ideas shape in fundamental ways how we understand human "nature", motivation, development, and pathology. What do we mean when we say mental illness is "biological"? "psychological"? or is "socially constructed"? We will read authors that provoke us to think in new ways about these controversies. We will draw from a variety of "psychologies" (for example, developmental, social, clinical, and psychoanalytic) as well as from several disciplines such as neurology and anthropology. We will also focus on diverse methodologies and styles of writing. In addition to classical psychology readings, we will include film and memoirs.

Power, Community and Social Justice Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research