Topics vary. May be repeated to a maximum of twenty-four semester hours. Maybe repeated within the same semester. This course presents an in-depth investigation of eating disorders, examining them in the cultural and historical context in which they were first identified. Although often linked to social media’s obsession with thinness, both anorexia and bulimia were first identified in patients in London, with the first cases of anorexia nervosa diagnosed in the late 1800’s by Sir William Gull. Further evidence of anorexia dates back to medieval saints and Welsh Fasting Girls. London will serve as a classroom with excursions contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the cultural contexts in which eating disorders first emerged – highlighting how cultural factors and timing differ between diagnoses. The course will present current understandings of causes, correlates, and outcomes of eating disorders, highlighting their complexity and ongoing controversies. London is the home of leading clinicians and researchers, and the course will end with an excursion to a leading research and treatment center in London.