DSCY10110 Madness and Medicine

Academic Year 2023/2024

*** Not available in the academic year indicated above ***

The teenage years dominate popular culture, and teenagers and their healthcare are a concern in healthcare systems. Transition planning, concerns about the strengths of services at this critical developmental period, and the advent of independent identities as teenagers transition to adult services are all points of concern.

These concerns are reflected in many aspects of art and culture relating to teen health. This module brings together experts from medicine, philosophy and literary and cultural studies to consider the relationships between medicine, illness, health and society. Each topic will be discussed from a clinical perspective and from a humanities angle, inviting students to consider the ways in which clinical practice and medical science inflect cultural understanding, and vice versa. Focusing on the cultural dimensions of health and healthcare, this exciting module primarily examines the representations of illness and adolescence in literature and philosophy and relates these to medicine and the experience of illness in adolescence. Bringing together experts in child and adolescent psychiatry, medicine, philosophies of vulnerability and literary representations of the body and the self, we invite students to consider the deep connections between medicine, literary culture and philosophy. This module is a collaboration between the Schools of English, Drama and Film, Medicine< Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Philosophy, along withthe Centre for Ethics in Public Life, and will introduce students to key concepts in those disciplines. The module is grounded in the value of interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration, and asks students to approach new ideas with an open mind.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module, students should be able to:
● Identify and describe major themes in representations of general and particularly adolescent health and illness
● Recognise connections between fictional, philosophical and clinical perspectives on illness
● Work collaboratively to communicate their learning
● Reflect on how their reading of texts has changed
● Identify critical frameworks for understanding creative representations of illness and vulnerability
● Compare and contrast different forms of narrative and their importance in healthcare.

Indicative Module Content:

Students will read generally fictional accounts of varying experiences of illness, which they will consider in conversation with relevant philosophical writings and discussions of clinical practice. Guest lectures will be offered by outside experts including patient advocate groups, publishing representatives and academics.
Topics may include:
1. Overviews of the overlaps between medical and mental health, from pregnancy and across childhood and adolescence. How are these experiences represented in literature?
2. Mental health, depression and anxiety and looking at this in Young Adult (YA) literature;
3. Representations of specific health and mental health areas, for example suicide in fiction; body image and eating disorders; narratives of grief and bereavement; representations of chronic illness.
4. Wider societal questions with relevance for pediatric and adolescent health, through topics such as vaccination, pandemics and plagues, and fictional monsters.
5. The position of the clinician in pediatric settings, exploring narratives of professional burnout.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Specified Learning Activities

20
Autonomous Student Learning

60
Total

104
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Students will reflect on their learning in group discussion sessions as well as individual reflective writings, and work together to produce a poster representing the themes of the module. Students will be invited to think discursively through the interdisciplinary connections across the themes, focusing on one theme from several perspectives. While students will be guided through material through short lectures, emphasis will be placed on discussion and individual reflection. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Group Project: Group presentation of poster based on research in a relevant area Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

40
Assignment: Reflection (4-600 words) on reading on the module Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

30
Assignment: Reflection (4-600 words) on reading on the module. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

30

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will be given automated and individual feedback on their reflective writing, inviting them to consider avenues for development. Students will also be given group feedback after their poster presentation, related to content and presentation as well as work as a group.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 

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