Sydney History and Philosophy of Science Winter [Northern Summer] School
History of Psychiatry, Past Trends, Future Directions
13-17 August 2018, University of Sydney
We
invite applications from graduate students and early-career researchers
in the history and social studies of science and biomedicine, and
related fields, for a five-day (southern-hemisphere) winter school
focusing on scholarship in the history of psychiatry. This is an
excellent opportunity for young scholars interested in some of the more
exciting recent developments in the history, sociology, and anthropology
of medicine, in particular those scholars seeking to integrate various
approaches in the interdisciplinary analysis of psychiatry and its
history.
The
history of psychiatry has attracted sustained attention by historians
of medicine over the past several decades. The attention to psychiatry
was partly caused by broader public debates about the role of psychiatry
in modern societies. During the 1970s, for example, critics such as
Thomas Szasz condemned psychiatry as a pseudo-branch of medicine and as a
tool of modern societies to force individuals to conform to arbitrary
social standards or to forcibly confine them to mental hospitals which
Erving Gofman characterised as total institutions akin to prisons and
concentration camps. The historical/philosophical work of Michel
Foucault contributed to these characterisations as well. These views
greatly contributed to historical research on the history of psychiatry.
How
relevant are the approaches to the history of psychiatry inspired by
these critical views today? After deinstitutionalisation, there are
hardly any mental hospitals left, the influence of psychoanalysis has
greatly declined, and psychiatrists appear to focus more on
psychopharmacology than on psychotherapy. During this winter school, we
will evaluate past and current research on the history of psychiatry,
discuss promising new trends, and focus on topics that we expect will be
relevant in the near future. Topics that will be discussed include:
Modern Research on Insane Asylums and Mental Hospitals; Colonial and
Post-Colonial Psychiatry; Diagnosing Populations: Psychiatric
Epidemiology; Deinstitutionalisation and community psychiatry; Trauma:
Experience, Explanations, and Treatments.
We
are looking forward to discussing these issues and many others,
according to the interests of participants. Through a mix of seminars,
small group discussions, and case studies, graduate students and
early-career researchers will become acquainted with the most
interesting research in the history of psychiatry. The workshop faculty
will illustrate their arguments with examples of their own recent and
forthcoming research. We expect participants to shape these discussions
and to contribute ideas and examples from their own studies.
Additionally, there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy Sydney’s
harbor, beaches, food, and cultural activities.
The
winter course will be taught by Mark Micale (University of Illinois),
Hans Pols (University of Sydney), and several other local academics with
interest in this area.
We
have planned this winter school before the conference of the Society
for the Social Study of Science, which will take place from 29 August to
1 September. There will be many interesting smaller events in the week
preceding that conference.
Applicants
should send a CV and a brief description (maximum one page) of their
research interests, and how they relate to the topic of the Winter
School, to hps.admin@sydney.edu.au (
The Winter School is supported by the Sydney Centre for the Foundations of Science and the School of History and Philosophy of Science, and the International Research Collaboration Fund of the University of Sydney.
