Welcome
Welcome to our course, Mental Illness in Movies - Children and Adolescents.
Films can be a powerful tool for exploring the human mind, especially when something goes wrong. Our goal in this course is to learn about several mental illnesses that are common among children and adolescents. If you're interested in adult psychopathology, please consider signing up for our Mental Illness in Movies course in the autumn semester, because that's where we explore the adult mind.
We've designed this online course to help you enjoy learning about interesting psychological disorders and hopefully be surprised by some of the information we present. You're encouraged to go through the materials at your own pace and study as much as you want.
This course is entirely online now and we've found that it works quite well! Here's how it works and what you'll need to do so please, read carefully:
Sign up for a seminary group.
- For each of your seminary groups, there is a discussion forum, where you will submit all your work and through which you can get in touch with other members of your group. (You can find them at the bottom of this page)
Review the materials we've provided.
- Begin by thoroughly reading and reviewing the materials. These will help you understand mental illnesses and prepare for the discussions. Reading the materials is an integral part of the learning process in this course.
Watch a film.
- All films are available on Netflix, HBO, or by easily searching for the title online. Each seminary group will have a discussion forum, where you will submit your work.
Have a discussion with your seminary group, record it and post a link to your recording to your group's discussion forum.
- You may meet in person or on-line, whatever works best for you.
To pass the course, your discussion needs to be at least 30 minutes long and you need to talk about the mental illness portrayed in the movie according to the materials we've provided. Please read the materials carefully and engage with others in meaningful conversations.
Please make your recording accessible directly through the link. (So we don't have to send you e-mails asking for access.)
for every link please add these information to the comment: 1) names of all who participated at the meeting 2) what were the main points of the discussion 3) did any questions arise, which you were unable to solve?
There is a deadline for each chapter. After the deadline, the chapter will close and you won't be able to post your recording.
Please address the subject of the film, which is mental illness. In each chapter we've provided some questions that might help, but you're free to choose a different topic if you wish. Please don't comment on whether you liked or disliked the movie; the point of the discussion is to engage in an in-depth analysis of the film's portrayal of mental illness. Also, please don't describe what happens in the movie; assume that everyone has already seen it, and focus on your fact-based opinions.
Once you've watched and contributed to every film, sign up for the exam date. There are different exam dates provided, but we won't be holding an exam on any of them. Signing up for the exam confirms that you've met all the course requirements, and we'll review your contributions and evaluate your performance. Please give us at least 24 hours to evaluate your performance.
If any topic makes you uncomfortable (such as child abuse or eating disorder), please don't force yourself to watch the entire film or study all the materials. It's okay to skip things that make you uncomfortable. Just let us know if you have any concerns or if you are unable to contribute. Anything can be solved if you communicate in time. :)
With any concerns, questions or simply anything regarding this course, please contact my assistant, Magdalena Štoková (552959@mail.muni.cz).
We've tried to choose films that portray either small children or adolescents, but unfortunately, there aren't many films featuring young children with mental disorders that would be convincing. Nonetheless, we hope this course will be interesting.
Are you ready to get started? Let's go!