It is the aim of this course to show you how theorizing the body can help you theorize the social world. Bodies are flashpoints for multiple sociological tensions, such as the relationship between the material and the symbolic, desire and discipline, knowledge and experience, the “natural” and the social, regulation and resistance. Attention to the body and embodiment can help us understand complex intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, and ability – how those intersections are performed, exploited, commercialized, and represented – how such axes of power are made durable and how they might transform. This course will explore theories of the body from social theorists such as Marx, Foucault, Butler, Haraway, and Fanon. We will also read contemporary sociological literatures related to the body, such as medicalization, policing, and social movements. In studying the body and embodiment, we will draw from interdisciplinary literatures, especially feminist and queer theory. By the end of the course, you should have the tools to identify how bodies are situated in social relations, how attention to bodies can inform and enhance our understanding of power and inequality, and you will have the opportunity to apply theories of body and embodiment to a topic of interest to you.

Intended Audience:

This course welcomes entirely online participation.

Class Format:

Instruction Mode: As a DC (Distance due to COVID) course, all aspects of this course will be fully compatible with remote online learning.

Learning Mode:  The weekly lectures for this course will require synchronous participation.

Course Teaching/Assessment: All assignments will be completed asynchronously and submitted via canvas. There will be no exams in the course.

Technology Platform: This course will use Canvas for all asynchronous online components. Synchronous meetings will be conducted through Zoom. Students should have access to a microphone and camera.