HIST 4513 Neurodiversity Past and Present

In recent years, growing rates of diagnosis of conditions like ADHD and autism have produced a burgeoning social movement to celebrate neurodiversity and demand social supports for neurodivergent individuals. While scientists advance our understanding of neurodivergences biological mechanisms, and popular awareness of neurodiversity increases, historians have yet to take a meaningful neurodiversity turn. This class draws on interdisciplinary scholarship to ask: how has neurodiversity been understood by doctors, educators, and the broader public in the past? How has invisible neurodivergence shaped human experience historically? How does neurodiversity relate to other categories of difference like race, class, and gender?