Minds and Madness

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

What is the mind? What does it mean for the mind to malfunction? And how should it be treated when this occurs? This subject provides an historical overview of responses to these questions by patients, medical practitioners and society as a whole. Once considered the seat of the soul, the human mind has been captured by science, reduced to a brain- a hard-wired neural network. Metaphysical explanations of madness (theological and magical) have been superseded by scientific theories (neurological and material), thus reshaping our understanding and experience of madness. Therapiies have been transformed accordingly. In exploring these important issues, the lectures will visit the spaces and places of 'Minds and Madness', including: the ship of fools; Bedlam; the asylum; the psychiatrist's couch and the GP's rooms; the battlefield; the dissection table; the operating theatre; and the padded cell. It will introduce students to a cast of thousands, including: the fool (from King Lear and elsewhere); Descartes ('Cogito Ergo Sum') and Spinoza; Gall and Spurzheim (the founders of phrenology); Freud, Jung and many other psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists. It will anaylyse and critique changing conceptions of mental health diagnosis. And finally, it will delve into the new world of the brain, where the neurological sciences, artificial intelligence and philosophy have merged into the discipline of Cognitive Science.

• comprehension of the subtle interplays between science and medicine, and culture and society

• understanding of the social and historical context for contemporary attitudes to mind, body and mental health

• development of analytical and communication skills

• ability to conduct independent research, using primary and secondary source to mount an effective argument

Students enrolled in the BSc (pre-2008 degree only), or a combined BSc course (except for the BA/BSc) will receive science credit for the completion of this subject.