Introduction to Body Studies

elective courses
proseminars

The course will examine how bodies function in American culture and society. Veering away from the more anthropological or sociological approaches to the body, we fill focus on the ways various identity positions and categories intersect in bodies, and how different embodiments affect individual and social experiences. By looking at race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and body size, we will problematize the notion of a body as a contained for an individual subject. During the course, we will examine various texts of culture, including popular culture) and social phenomena impacting body discourses in the U.S.

The course will examine how bodies function in American culture and society. Veering away from the more anthropological or sociological approaches to the body, we fill focus on the ways various identity positions and categories intersect in bodies, and how different embodiments affect individual and social experiences. By looking at race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and body size, we will problematize the notion of a body as a contained for an individual subject. During the course, we will examine various texts of culture, including popular culture) and social phenomena impacting body discourses in the U.S.

The course is designed as an introduction to the study of constructions and representations of the body in culture and society, as well as a contribution to a deeper knowledge of cultural studies methodologies, especially American cultural studies. The course also aims to familiarize students with strategies and good practices for conducting research and preparing a research paper, both from a content-related and formal perspective.

Selected theoretical texts:

Lisa Blackman "The Body"

Judith Butler "Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex"

Margo de Mello "Body Studies: An Introduction"

Alison Kafer, "Feminist, Queer, Crip"

Samantha Murray, "The 'Fat' Female Body"

Selected primary sources:

"I am Not Your Negro" (2016), dir. Raoul Peck

John Layman and Rob Guillory, "Chew"

"Angel Heart" (1987), dir. Alan Parker

"Shrill" (2019), Hulu

Janelle Monáe, “Dirty Computer [Emotion Picture]”

Octavia Butler, “Bloodchild,”

(Please note that this is not an exhaustive or final list)

Upon completing this course a student:

1. KNOWLEDGE

• has a knowledge of cultural representations of bodies across a range of media and various conceptualization of bodies

• recognises key motifs and modes of representation of bodies, especially through race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and body size

• is aware of multiple contexts of how bodies function in cultural and social spaces of contemporary United States

2. SKILLS

• is able to use critical tools, combine theories and formulate arguments on that basis

• is able to formulate critical arguments about representations of bodies in US culture

• is able to use a range of theoretical apparatuses in analyses of individual texts and phenomena of US culture

3. SOCIAL COMPETENCES

• is aware of the impact of embodiments and their effect of social and cultural experiences

• is open to new phenomena and ideas in American culture

• understands and appreciates the role of popular literature in the United States

• understands the contexts of the political dimension of various cultural and social phenomena

Grading

- active seminar participation 20% (including in class assignments and homework)

- in-class presentation of the proposal of the final project 20%

- literature review or annotated bibliography of key secondary texts relevant for the selected text, to be used in the research paper 20%

- research paper 40% (draft and final)

Final grade (comprising the above): over 90% – 5; 85-89% – 4+; 75-84% – 4; 70-74% – 3+; 60-69% – 3.