Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness

For centuries, scientists and society cast moral judgments on anyone deemed mentally ill, confining many to asylums. In Nobody’s Normal, anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker chronicles the progress and setbacks in the struggle against mental-illness stigma—from the eighteenth century, through America’s major wars, and into today’s high-tech economy. The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs Book Launch Series is proud to present a lecture by Dr. Grinker on his latest book, Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness (W. W. Norton & Company). The talk is followed by a Q&A with the audience moderated by fellow anthropologist, Sarah E. Wagner. Purchase "Nobody's Normal" by Richard Grinker: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393531640 View upcoming Elliott School Book Launch Series events: https://elliott.gwu.edu/elliott-schoo... About the Author: Roy Richard Grinker is a Professor of Anthropology, Human Sciences and International Affairs at the George Washington University. He is a cultural anthropologist specializing in ethnicity, nationalism, and psychological anthropology, with topical expertise in autism, Korea, and sub-Saharan Africa. He is also the director of GW's Institute for Ethnographic Research and editor-in-chief of of the journal Anthropological Quarterly. Dr. Grinker has conducted research on a variety of subjects: ethnic relationships between farmers and foragers in the Ituri forest, Democratic Republic of Congo; North and South Korean relations, with special emphasis on North Korean defectors' adaptation to South Korea life; and the epidemiology of autism. He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University. About the Moderator: Sarah E. Wagner is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at the George Washington University. She is a social anthropologist specializing in the former Yugoslavia, the U.S., war, genocide, and commemorative practices. She is the author of, most recently, What Remains: Bringing America’s Missing Home from the Vietnam War (Harvard University Press, 2020). Dr. Wagner has conducted extensive ethnographic research on the ground alongside U.S. military personnel. Her current research focuses on the U.S. government’s attempt to account for its service members Missing In Action (MIA) and presumed dead from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University.