Over the past decade, diagnoses of mental illness have been on the rise and discussions of mental health have intensified dramatically. But these disorders did not just appear in the last few years – in fact, mental illness has been experienced and written about for millennia. This course will explore this history beginning with Hamlet and ending with The Collected Schizophrenias. As we read, we will examine in each story how these texts reflect and challenge cultural attitudes, medical practices, and societal norms.

We will ask questions like:

• What does it mean to be mentally ill and who decides? 
• How have definitions and classifications of mental disorders evolved over time? 
• What roles have medical professionals, cultural factors, and societal expectations played in shaping these definitions – and what role have writers played in these same definitions? 
• How is the label of mental illness being used by or against the characters in these stories?
• What can the literature we are reading help us understand about the implications of literature on contemporary understandings of mental illness, mental health treatment, and social justice?

You will be asked to reflect on these topics in 2 short essays and 1 creative project across the course of the semester, in addition to informal writing and research assignments designed to help engage you in the readings and their historical contexts.