James Charney

James Charney, MD is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, Yale University. He specializes in the intersection of mental health and film, teaching courses on mental illness portrayal in cinema for over a decade at Yale and the American University of Rome. His work bridges clinical psychiatry with humanities, analyzing how films reflect cultural perceptions of disorders like psychosis, bipolar disorder, and anxiety.

Education: MD from University of Washington (1976), BA from Duke University (1972), and additional studies at Columbia University (1968). His publications include the textbook Nursing Care of Children and Families (1989) and the 2023 book Madness at the Movies, which examines classic films through a psychiatric lens.

Teaching focuses include medical education innovation, with courses dissecting film narratives to understand psychopathology. His research emphasizes culturally responsive mental health representation and historical shifts in public perception of mental illness.