Critical Studies of Mental Health in Higher Education

Undergraduate / Graduate

Long before the covid-19 pandemic, a sense of crisis had been looming over student mental health, with public-facing statements and media coverage increasingly describing a "crisis" of college mental health in the US and beyond. And yet, a closer look demonstrates that there is a wide range of arguments and disagreements regarding the causes and even the character of this "crisis." Are we facing an upsurge in psychopathology or a crisis in access to services, a transformation in the meanings surrounding mental health, or perhaps a crisis of higher education more broadly? In this course, we delve into these questions, using the methodological and conceptual tools of the interpretive, critical, and humanistic social sciences. Alongside a range of readings drawn from anthropology, sociology, history, and education studies, students will complete a series of ethnographic assignments, culminating in a final paper proposing a study into some aspect of mental health, illness, and wellness in higher education.