HON 330 - Bodies Under Construction

Prerequisite, acceptance to the University Honors Program. Often times, the body is an object that is taken for granted. What does it mean to have a body? This course will explore ways in which society and culture construct the body. Students will explore questions involving the classic Cartesian “mind-body” problem and literature exploring the “lived” experience of the body. They will then move into constructivist perspectives that explore how bodies as symbolic and disciplinary objects. After establishing several frameworks for how bodies are socially constructed, they will then explore how the body is a politicized object that intersects with various sites of power, including racism, sexism, and other forms of inequality. Students will then examine how the bodies is actively (re)constructed in various arenas. They will consider the following questions: To what extent are bodies culturally constructed? How does each researcher conceptualize the body? What is the role of biology in shaping the body? What are biological constraints and possibilities when exploring the body? How does power intersect with the body? Do some bodies matter more than other bodies? Letter grade. (Offered as needed.) 3 credits