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Mad, Bad, Sad: The Anthropology of Deviance - ANTH224
Madness, deviance and other forms of social difference are culturally constructed and have moral implications that are dramatically entwined within people's life-worlds. How do cultures in different parts of the world determine and understand who is mad, bad or sad? This unit will examine cultural and social construction of normality and what happens when people find themselves outside these bounds. Working from both a comparative perspective and an analytic position moving between social structures and individual experiences and meanings, this unit focuses on the processes and experiences of social marginalisation through examining themes such as mental illness and culture, 'sanity', desire and addictions, emotions, gender norms and their transgressions, melancholy and depression, sorcery and witchcraft, criminality, homelessness, and the processes of representation, medicalisation, and stigmatisation associated with these experiences. Ultimately, students will understand and reflect on how difference is constructed and embodied, and become aware of how deviance is surveilled, managed, and constrained in a variety of cultural contexts.
| Credit Points: | 3 |
| When Offered: | S1 Day - Session 1, North Ryde, Day |
| Staff Contact(s): | Dr Aaron Denham |
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| Assessed As: | Graded |
| Offered By: | Department of Anthropology Faculty of Arts |
Timetable Information
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