SOCA3315
Living the Body
10 Units
Not available in 2013
Previously offered in 2012, 2011, 2010
In this course we will explore the anthropology of the body. What has emerged from the more recent interest in the human body as it is lived, and how it is experienced as living, is a multiplicity of bodies. The lectures and tutorials will explore and critically discuss ethnographic examples from around the world, addressing different social and cultural understandings of individual and social bodies, the body politic and medical bodies. For instance, topics that may be included in this course are techniques of the body; tattooed bodies or cosmetic surgery; political bodies and different social and cultural understandings of working with the body politic.
| Objectives | Upon completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate: 1. An understanding of the different theoretical perspectives used to study social and cultural practices of 'the lived body' and 'living the body' 2. An understanding of how frameworks and approaches to the body have been used and developed over time. 3. Knowledge of the way in which experiences are culturally constituted and socially controlled. 4. An ability to critically analyse cultural understandings, representations and social practices. 5. Skills in giving and facilitating oral presentations and engaging in team work, writing academic essays, undertaking and contributing to policy research. 6. An ability to integrate and apply social science approaches in the workplace. |
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| Content | Topics may include: 1. Classic and contemporary ethnographic studies of approaches to the body (e.g. embodiment, the individual body, the social body, the body politic, experiences of living the body). 2. Ethnographic studies of how relationships are negotiated, understandings mediated and meanings constructed, with a particular emphasis on cultural difference(s). 3. Theories of the way in which experiences are symbolically and socially constituted. 4. Theories of social and cultural approaches to the lived body and living the body. |
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| Transition | Not Applicable | ||||
| Industrial Experience | 0 | ||||
| Assumed Knowledge | 40 units of study at 1000 level | ||||
| Modes of Delivery | Internal Mode | ||||
| Teaching Methods | Lecture
Tutorial |
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| Assessment Items |
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| Contact Hours | Lecture: for 1 hour(s) per Week for Full Term Tutorial: for 1 hour(s) per Week for Full Term |