Medicine, the Body, and Society
SOC 261
Fall 2006 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
SISP 261 |
This course explores the interaction of the human body and society, with special (but not exclusive) emphasis on the medical context of illness, injury and healing. We will begin with a brief overview of the history of medicine, focusing on three areas: perceptions of the body, beliefs about illness and healing, and the methods through which the body has become known to us. The second section of the course asks to what extent the human body is a social rather than a natural creation. Here we will study various ways social acts alter the body, both physically (i.e., standards of beauty and health) but also conceptually (i.e., the concept of race). In the final section of the course, we will analyze the metaphorical relationship of the body and society. In this section, we will explore the parallels that have been drawn between the body and society both in medical thought (i.e., the body as microcosm) and in social discourse (i.e., social problems as disease). Substantive topics will depend in part upon the interests of students in the class, but are likely to include dissection, organ transplantation, tattooing, piercing, scarring, contagion and epidemic disease, medical technology, and the classification of the body into different races and sexes. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Speaking, Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SOC |
| Course Format: Lecture/Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: SOC151 OR SOC152 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Ackerknecht, E., A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE
Feher, M. (ed.), FRAGMENTS FOR A HISTORY OF THE HUMAN BODY
Foucault, M., THE FOUCAULT READER
Goffman, E., STIGMA
Hatty S. & J. Hatty, THE DISORDERED BODY: EPIDEMIC DISEASE AND CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION
Laqueur, T., MAKING SEX: BODY AND GENDER FROM THE GREEKS TO FREUD
Rosenberg, C., and J. Golden (eds.), FRAMING DISEASE: STUDIES IN CULTURAL HISTORY
Sontag, S., ILLNESS AS METAPHOR AND AIDS AND ITS METAPHORS
Wailoo, K., DYING IN THE CITY OF THE BLUES: SICKLE CELL ANEMIA AND THE POLITICS OF RACE AND HEALTH
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Examinations and Assignments:
One take-home essay examination (8-10 pages)
One research paper (15-20 pages)
Two class presentations
Attendance and participation |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Most of the readings listed above will be in the course, but there may be some additions and subtractions. There will be additional required readings available on electronic reserve. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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