THE world’s first master’s degree in Mad Studies is being launched by Musselburgh’s Queen Margaret University (QMU).

The MSc Mad Studies course is primarily for graduates with lived experience of mental health issues.

It has been hailed by a leading international Mad Studies academic as the most exciting piece of curriculum development in the last 20 years.

Mad Studies is a recognised academic discipline that explores the knowledge and actions that have grown from the global mad movement. It cuts across the fields of social sciences, healthcare and humanities and expresses a radical new voice in academia about madness.

In partnership with CAPS Independent Advocacy and Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, the university has been offering a free short course titled Mad People’s History and Identity (MPHI).

The new MSc Mad Studies has been designed for people engaged in the ‘mad movement’. Some scholarships are available for people with lived experience but the course will also be available for people working in the field of mental health as part of their ongoing development.

Dr Kathryn Church, a world-leading scholar in Mad Studies and Disability Studies, from Ryerson University in Toronto, said: “This proposal is the most exciting piece of curriculum development that I have seen in my 20 year career as an academic.

“What is potentially revolutionary is the attention to students from the mad community, the opening for their uptake of this opportunity and their participation in a diverse community of learners.”

The application deadline is next Monday (December 14), with the course starting in January. There are three scholarships available for students with lived experience of mental health issues who are unemployed or from low-income households. They cover course fees and are only available for home and UK students.

For more information, email EBallantyne@qmu.ac.uk and see full course details at bit.ly/3mvpiVR