CALLING ALL BAT-NERDS

I have the awesome opportunity to craft a syllabus for my long-imagined Psychology of Batman course, "The Bat's Belfry".

It's not just an Abnormal Psych course. I'd rather this be a sort of nerdy, upper-level survey:

• Developmental psych
• Family dynamics and family systems (ooh, that's going to be fun, maybe an entire week on fathers and sons alone, with a whole class dedicated to Alfred)
  
• some positive psychology (the benefits of enduring friendship)
• some integrative things like "Would Batman have existed if Bruce Wayne had had effective therapy?" (requiring you to discuss whether Batman is an adaptive or maladaptive coping mechanism...or a coping mechanism at all...)
• Neuropsychology (fear toxin, sure, but also the question "Can adult Bruce be anything other than Batman?")
• maybe some political psychology in a discussion of real-world vigilantism.
  
• I suppose I should include some psychodynamics...but I really don't want to...
  

The abnormal psych aspects will include exploration of childhood trauma and the concept of real-world fit of DSM diagnoses.  Because if you diagnose Bruce one way, I guarantee you'll miss some other aspect of his pathology.  During this class, I may argue that he doesn't have any psychopathology to diagnose, leading up to that question involving the cape-and-cowl as a coping mechanism.

And I'll study the villains, although very short shrift will be given to Joker.

• The true Bat-heads know, the best *relationship* for study is Batman/Two-Face
• Definitely Hugo Strange and Scarecrow (seems like it's required of me).
• Mr. Freeze (pre-New 52, when DC stripped the character of every interesting facet).

In Kingdom Come, Superman turns our conception of Batman on its head by alleging that the Dark Knight is entirely a creature of deepest HOPE, not fear.

My questions, Bat-nerds and psych-nerds:

1. Any other villains and/or topics I should cover?
2. What sorts of essay topics would excite you if you took my course?
   
3. Also, please please peruse my tentative required reading/viewing list and recommend additions/subtractions (I'm skipping all of the academic stuff I'll assign as well).
   

Main Text: Batman and Psychology, by Travis Langley (if you haven't read it, you should)

Other Required stuff:

• Detective Comics #27 and Action Comics #1
• The Killing Joke
• The Long Halloween
• A Lonely Place of Dying (Death in the Family optional)
• Either the "Dark Knight Over Metropolis" storyline (when Superman gave Batman the Kryptonite ring) or Superman/Batman #1-2 (2003)
• "Hush"
• Dark Knight Returns and Kingdom Come (for different versions of Old Bruce)

From the DC Animated Universe:

• "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne"
• "Heart of Ice"
• "Tales of the Dark Knight" (optional)
  

The Sons of the Bat, or "When Birth Order Dynamics Don't Require Shared Parenthood"