• Offered for Year: 2026/27

• Module Leader(s): Dr Vicky Long

• Owning School: History, Classics and Archaeology
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

• Capacity limit: 48 student places

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

This module studies social responses to mental disorder in Britain over a period which saw the polarisation of sanity and madness give way to a belief that mental health and illness formed a continuum, culminating in the creation of community mental health services and the closure of psychiatric hospitals. Throughout the module, students will study different primary source materials which can be used to research the history of mental disorder and will explore the divergent interpretations advanced by different historians to account for the ways in which society - and the medical profession - has responded to mental disorder. The module adopts a thematic approach, focusing each week on a particular topic, such as treatment methods, patient perspectives, the anti-psychiatry movement of the 1960s and community care. Students will be expected to read the assigned secondary texts in preparation for the seminars, and will critically engage with primary materials pertinent to their studies. The project component encourages students to apply historical knowledge to contemporary needs, thereby identifying the ongoing contemporary relevance of the historical issues covered over the module.

Outline Of Syllabus

Indicative syllabus; the precise range of topics may vary from year to year.

•       Deinstitutionalisation and community care
•       Anti-psychiatry, mental health and the counterculture
•       Abuse and neglect? Evaluating mental hospital scandals
•       Controversial therapies in psychiatry
•       War and mental health
•       From mental deficiency to learning disability
•       Madness, race and gender
•       Life inside the asylum, c. 1900

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The delivery of this stage 3 module is designed to foster student-led, engaged learning. At its heart lies a weekly 2 hour seminar. The seminars will focus upon students’ discussion of texts, debates, sources and approaches. By asking students to engage with readings which advance divergent and contradictory arguments, the module will encourage students to engage with the contested nature of historical knowledge. Dovetailing with the seminars, online asynchronous structured learning activities will introduce students to a range of different primary source materials, linked to each week's seminar topic, and will encourage students to critically engage with and analyse different source types, enriching seminar discussion.

The module is divided into four thematic blocks, and each block will be introduced by a one hour lecture that places developments in a wider context, and draws connections. Two workshops will help prepare students for the project assignment and will encourage them to start work on this element at an early stage. These will combine advice from the lecturer, practical exercises, and an opportunity for Q&A. Drop-in slots will enable students to seek individualised support on their assignment, and to raise questions about the course and its contents. Two short lectures created by the module leader will provide students with an overview of the module and an introduction to the subject, and an introduction to the project assignment; these are online resources, enabling students to access these throughout the module.

The course includes two forms of guided independent study: preparatory readings for seminars and independent research for the project assignment, which asks students to apply historical knowledge to contemporary dilemmas.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The project component requires students to apply their research skills in a real-world context. They will produce an output for an external body (e.g. a poster, short article, or letter) that applies knowledge of the history of mental health to address a contemporary issue.

Students are encouraged to exploit the wealth of readily available digitised primary source materials available for this topic, which are signposted throughout the module, in their project. The project is submitted alongside a reflective report that enables the student to articulate their rationale for the project, how their approach developed over time, and how it is underpinned by historical knowledge in more detail. The assignment also tests students’ abilities to write clearly and follow presentation guidelines.

This assessment is scaffolded by a short formative assessment: students will complete a short form which asks them to identify which organisation or individual they propose to target, what message they aim to convey, how this message is informed by historical knowledge, and what format they plan to adopt for their output (the formative assessment). This directs students' attention to the learning outcomes for this assessment, and allows me to offer suggestions and advice.

Reading Lists

• HIS3341's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• HIS3341's Timetable