ATS2579 From demons to depression: A history of pre-modern mental health
Faculty of Arts
ATS2579 From demons to depression: A history of pre-modern mental health is a level 2, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Arts. It isn't offered in 2026. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2026
- Not offered
- Assessment
- No exam
- 4 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2026 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before ATS2579
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After ATS2579
No unit lists ATS2579 as a prerequisite in the 2026 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Prohibition: ATS3579
Prerequisite: Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units.
Overview
In this unit you will learn how unusual psychological and somatopsychic experiences were understood in premodern Europe. You will trace the long history of concepts such as ‘possession’, ‘ecstasy’, ‘melancholy’, ‘hypochondria’, ‘hysteria’, ‘anorexia’, ‘lovesickness’ and ‘tarantism’ from late antiquity to the eighteenth century. Is it possible to diagnose people in the past with modern psychiatric conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia? And if not, what can the historiography of religion, medicine and the emotions teach us about the creation, legitimation or stigmatisation of ‘altered states’ of mind and body? Sign up to do battle with demons, fly with witches, cry with mystics, vibe with vampires, and dance the tarantella!
Offerings in 2026
The 2026 handbook lists no offerings for ATS2579.
Assessment
- In-class testQuiz / Test20%
- Digital contentArtefact20%
- ExegesisWritten10%
- EssayWritten50%
Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
explain historical concepts of spiritual and psychological experience in the premodern West;
- 2
critically assess modern scholarly approaches to these phenomena (in the history of religion, medicine and the emotions);
- 3
analyse relevant primary sources and communicate their significance to a general audience in oral and written form;
- 4
develop a cogent written argument using relevant primary and secondary sources, showing awareness of larger historiographical debates.
Workload and teaching
- Tutorials24 hours
- Lectures12 hours
- Teaching approachActive learning
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
This unit engages you in actively applying your knowledge, skills and attributes in interactive, collaborative and reflective activities.
Where it fits
ATS2579 is part of 4 areas of study in the 2026 handbook.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Professor Yasmin Haskell
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for ATS2579?
ATS2579 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is ATS2579 offered?
ATS2579 has no offerings listed in the 2026 handbook.
How much work is ATS2579?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does ATS2579 have an exam?
No. ATS2579 has 4 assessment tasks and no exam.
Which majors and minors include ATS2579?
ATS2579 is part of Health humanities and History.