Critical Social Inquiry 0170 - Minding Culture

This course will introduce students to the major controversies and discourses debated in the study of mental illness. Two major controversies in clinical psychology highlighted are: the debate focusing on nature vs. nurture and the individual vs. society. The course will be part of a series of seminars designed to explore the epistemological, theoretical, and practice implications of concepts of mental illness and culture. Questions to be debated include: what is mental illness? Who defines it? How have the categories changed over time (historically) and place (culturally)? How is mental illness related to ideas of the "individual" and the "mind"? How is mental illness "embodied"? In our views of the "Other", what can we know about our-selves? This course is less about finding out about other cultures, and more about discovering "something" about our ideals and our prejudices. Particular emphasis will be placed on the experience of mental illness; depictions and narratives of mental illness such as those portrayed and/ or imagined in film, memoir, fiction, and other first-person accounts will be highlighted throughout the course.

Mind, Brain, and Information Power, Community and Social Justice Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.