HI176: Mind, Body, and Society

This 30 CATS first-year option module will introduce students to concepts in the history of the body and mind, and how they have been framed across place and time. We will cover a wide thematic range -- from the introduction and spread of 'medical science', to the dark histories of racial science and eugenics, to the moral judgments placed upon unruly bodies and behaviours. Far from remaining static over time, the constitution of 'normal' and 'abnormal' minds and bodies will be shown to have changed dramatically during the modern period. Geographically, this module will provide global perspectives on a range of topics, with case studies focused on Europe, Africa, India, Russia, and beyond. Term one focuses on the the advent of biomedicine and its spread across the globe, and changing conceptions of mental health since the nineteenth century. Term two explores a variety of themes from a range of different historical and historiographical perspectives, and will challenge students to consider the roots of medical and biological prejudice. Topics in term three tackle contemporary ethical concerns and debates, drawing on historical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Workshops at the end of terms one and two equip students to start doing their own primary-source research and to construct effective historical arguments.

Aims and outcomes

Gain a broad understanding of key concepts relating to the history of medicine, health, and societal conceptions of the mind and body.
Identify important historiographical debates in the field.
Identify and engage with a range of relevant primary materials and online resources.
Devise well-defined essay topics, collect relevant data from a variety of sources and present results in an effective fashion.

Indicative readings

David Arnold, Colonizing the Body: State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in Nineteenth-Century India (1993)
Roberta Bivins, Alternative Medicine? A History (2007)
Hilary Marland (ed.), The Art of Midwifery: Early Modern Midwives in Europe (1993)