The Rationality of the Flesh: Genealogies of Embodiment and the Materiality of the Self
CHUM 301
Spring 2011
| Section:
01
|
| Crosslisting:
FGSS 301, SISP 301 |
The notion of the embodied subject has depended historically and conceptually on the underlying concern with the materiality of personhood, often defined through parameters such as gender, sexuality, race, difference, and disability. And yet the question of material embodiment has itself been long animated by, and held complex dialogues with, a number of important genealogies of the flesh, with roots in philosophical, scientific, and political considerations that mark modern approaches to thinking about the human. What are some of these broader historical, philosophical, and scientific concerns that ground more recent accounts of the materiality of the self and person? And how have these genealogies led us to think about, but also critique, the materiality and tangibility of our bodies and embodied lives? In this course, we will examine varying notions of bodily or living matter from multiple disciplinary perspectives in an attempt to understand what "body," "matter," or "flesh" ultimately name, on what conditions or theoretical frameworks they depend, and how successfully these notions can finally be described and fully understood. Authors we will read may include, but are not limited to, Judith Butler, Georges Canguilhem, René Descartes, Franz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Kurt Goldstein, Donna Haraway, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. |
|
Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CHUM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (FGSS) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Readings will include writings from René Descartes, Georges Canguilhem, Evelyn Fox Keller, Sigmund Freud, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Kurt Goldstein & others.
|
Examinations and Assignments:
2 short papers & 1 long paper |
| Instructor(s): Bassiri,Nima Times: ....R.. 01:10PM-04:00PM; Location: CFH106; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 16 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 5 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 2 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 3 | 1st Ranked: 1 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
|
|