Message posted on 24/04/2018

Summer Program: Sydney HPS Winter [Northern Summer] School: History of Psychiatry, Past Trends, Future Directions

*History and Philosophy of Science Winter [Northern Summer] School: History
of Psychiatry, Past Trends, Future Directions



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 (with a
subject heading “Winter School Application”). Closing date is May 31,
2018.
We will take care of accommodation expenses and meals for the period of the
Winter School, but participants (or their institutions) will have to cover
their own transport costs.



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.*
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