The History of Psychiatry (P02568)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : SPS-P-P02568

This course surveys the history of psychiatry as a medical field. It does
so by focusing on a selection of specific problems faced by psychiatrists
from the nineteenth century to the present. While broadly chronological,
the aim of this course is to emphasise the practices of psychiatrists rather
than give a complete overview of the subject. It focuses on specific mental
problems, often comparing different approaches to the problem from a number
of standpoints. It encourages students to think about issues of
interpretation, and as such, includes a number of primary
sources-particularly case histories-which will help students to ground each
of the secondary sources in actual psychiatric material.

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Science Studies Unit, (School of Social and Political Studies, Schedule J)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course students will have demonstrated through written work, oral presentations and other contributions in class, that they

* have a substantive knowledge and understanding of a selection of important issues within the history of psychiatry, and of the contending viewpoints and claims on these issues

* have an appreciation of the different context in which psychiatric knowledge is developed, and can comment intelligently on the importance of these contexts

* have developed sophisticated interpretive skills in the analysis of historical documents

* can identify and characterise key approaches to understanding and evaluating issues within the historiography of psychiatry, and identify advantages, problems and implications of these approaches

* can apply these understandings and skills, and deploy some of these approaches, concepts and techniques, in analysing a new problem in the history of psychiatry, and in other areas of the history of science and medicine

Assessment Information

2 x 750 word short responses to weekly seminars (topic of student’s choice) worth 10% each; 1 x 2-3000 word essay (80%) on a topic not already discussed in short responses.