Demons of the Mind: the Interactions of the 'Psy' Sciences and Cinema in the Sixties

The 1960s was a period of intense struggles over knowledge about the human mind, with psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts in deep conflict. This was the period of professional and public arguments over the use of psychotropic and antipsychotic drugs, electroconvulsive therapy, psychosurgery, as well as issues such as the role of personality and genetics in human behaviour, children's emotional development, obedience and bystander apathy, the relationship between cinema and psychosis, psychology's role in defining sexuality and women's oppression, the popularisation of psychotherapy, and the anti-psychiatry movement. It was also a period in which cinema and audiences became preoccupied with the 'demons of the mind', with horror, science fiction, crime, and thriller films becoming increasingly significant ways in which psychological theories and new research findings were disseminated and debated within the public sphere. British and American cinema invested heavily financially and creatively in exploring child development, attachment and 'mothering', psychogenetics, psychopathy and personality disorders within overlapping cycles of genre films featuring the most celebrated directors and stars (William Wyler, Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Lawrence Olivier, Noel Coward, Audrey Hepburn) and luminaries of New Hollywood and the British New Wave (Robert Altman, Peter Bogdanovich, Jack Clayton, Karel Reisz, Terence Stamp). Many of these films were Anglo-American co-productions that integrated national cinematic traditions and talent in appealing to both British and American markets.

This project will provide the first comprehensive account of the complex contestations and cross-pollinations of the psy sciences in this defining period as the influence of psychology and allied sciences expanded into everyday political, public and private lives in Britain and America. The project will explore the divergences and intersections of the two national cultures and bodies of medical thought, at a time when, as in cinema culture, there was significant traffic but also marked distinctions. The outputs from this project will therefore provide vital contributions to the history of science and medicine. In addition, the project will trace how key developments in the psy sciences interacted with popular cinema and other media in the 'long Sixties' period of the mid-1950s to early-1970s, when popular culture made an unprecedented intervention into debates regarding human psychology. The project will, therefore, also provide a significant contribution to media and film studies by seeking to understand Sixties cinema culture's fixation with the psychological not as unconscious meanings or subject positions, but rather as conscious and contested intermediations of medical, psychological, and psychiatric discourses and practices; these films were promoted as representing conjoined 'breakthroughs' in science and cinema.

Through its research methods, personnel, and dissemination, this project will bring historians of science and medicine, science communication scholars, media and film studies academics, and psy science professionals into productive dialogue. It will also provide vital experience, mentoring, and training for the early career researcher (PI) and postdoctoral researcher in working with leading academics within and outside their fields of expertise. The project will facilitate productive collaboration between the leading Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at University of Manchester and one of UK's longest established centres for Film, Television and Media Studies at University of East Anglia. In addition, the project's partnership with the British Science Association will introduce humanities approaches into the science festival circuit, which is currently dominated by scientific perspectives.

This collaborative, interdisciplinary project is designed so that a number of groups will benefit - directly and indirectly - from the impact of this research.

Firstly, in partnership with the British Science Association, the project will contribute humanities perspectives to science engagement. The project findings will be disseminated and discussed at a series of national and regional science festivals, where academic engagement events are dominated by scientific perspectives. Embracing the AHRC's remit in fostering more humanities-led events at the Times Cheltenham Science Festival, we will work with the BSA to develop engagement events for the UK's leading science festival and five other regional science festivals drawing on media studies and science communication perspectives. These will include events for the Manchester Science Festival and Science Outreach in Norfolk, in addition to other educational and engagement events being developed and organized with the British Science Association (see letter of support). Impact will be measured by quantitative and qualitative measures, including evaluative exit questionnaires with attendees, testimonials from organisers and partners, and measuring attendance / financial metrics.

Secondly, the project is designed to foster dialogue between humanities and science academics and mental health professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counsellors, patient advocacy groups). This will be formalised in designated panels at the 'psychology, science and cinema' international workshop at UEA, where we will explore the historical role and representation of the psychological professions and mental health concerns within the media, and the influence and implications of these representations in the present. We will also communicate project findings and engage in dialogues within popular psychology journals and professional publications, introducing humanities knowledge into these psychological forums. Impact will be measured by number / diversity of attendees, quantitative and qualitative questionnaires with academics and mental health professionals, and online feedback via science forums (in conjunction with BSA/ Science Museum).

Thirdly, the project will seek to engage the public in discussions about the media and mental health. We plan to deliver a series of six film screenings in year two - three in Norwich (Cinema City) and three in Manchester (HOME) - with introductions and Q and As with the project team and invited mental health professionals and advocacy groups. The project will also seek to tie into film seasons and adult education events being developed for the National Film Theater by the British Film Institute (a collaboration between the project team, BSA and BFI around the theme of Science and Cinema is being discussed with the Head of Scholarship at the BFI and Head of Engagement at the BSA). Impact will be measured by quantitative and qualitative measures including evaluative exit questionnaires, attendance data and financial metrics.

Finally, the project will disseminate the project research and findings more widely through a project website and regular blog; and through blog posts and articles across a range of news and social media sites. The timeline for research and dissemination (2017-2019) has been devised to map onto 50th anniversaries of key moments in cinema and psy science history, that will be used to promote media and public interest. Impact will be measured through the project website by measuring hits and onsite interactivity, and through social media (Twitter/ Facebook) through posts, likes and shares.