Theme Issue: Mental Health and Illness in American Culture Throughout recorded history, those regarded as mentally ill have frightened, fascinated, and challenged us to look deep within the individual and our shared human experience for answers to the most fundamental questions about ourselves and each other. The fields of psychology and cultural studies have each offered unique perspectives from which to explain our behavior, normal and deviant. It has only been within the recent past that the two disciplines have come together in attempts to answer some of these age-old questions. Please consider submitting an electronic abstract of 150-250 as soon as possible words on a topic that intersects mental health and mental illness and American culture. Submissions, generally 15-25 pages in length, are to be original scholarly manuscripts formatted according to MLA style guidelines using in-text citations with author’s name and page number. Endnotes and works cited should appear at the end of the paper. In light of space limitations, please avoid excessive use of endnotes.

Please direct inquiries to the editor of this themed issue, Lawrence C. Rubin, at lrubin@stu.edu.

Suggested topics include the following:
Depictions of mental health and mental illness in
• Movies, television, or animation
• Literature, comics, or graphic novels
• Music and musicals
• Advertising
• Sports
• Religion
• Media representations of psychotherapy, counseling, or psychiatry
• Political movements
• Education
The role of psychology and culture in understanding
• Social media (Facebook, You Tube, Twitter) or technology
• Fashion or architecture
• Social, religious, or political movements
• Entertainment, sports, or gaming
• Poverty, racism, discrimination, or terrorism
Famous cultural and historical figures who have affected the confluence of mental health and mental illness through
• Social movements and social reform
• Electronic media
• Scientific study
• Business
• Religion
• Film/documentary

The deadline for submission of the Final Paper is Dec. 31, 2012, and the issue will be published in March 2014.