HIST 270 From Asylums to Artificial Intelligence: Mental Health in American History

Why do we think about mental health the way we do today? This course explores how Americans have understood, treated, and debated mental illness from the colonial era to the age of artificial intelligence. Students examine the contributions of science - medicine, psychology, neuroscience, and data-driven technologies - while also centering the human experience of distress, care, and recovery. Through a blend of first-person accounts and primary sources, the course explores asylums, therapy, medications, social movements, and today's AI-based mental health tools. Blending history with science and the social sciences, the course connects past and present debates about ethics, stigma, access, and what it means to care for one another.

Cross Listed Courses

HIST 270 & PSY 370