Critical Social Inquiry 0144 - Contested Bodies

Using primary and secondary materials as well as documentaries and feature films, this course explores conceptualizations and representations of race and sex in various domains of scientific thought. We begin by looking at the histories of race and sex in Western science. We will examine gendered and racialized pathologies, such as hysteria and drapetomania, and consider how scientific thought intersected with larger political and economic movements. We will then move into a discussion of the uses of race and sex in the contemporary life sciences. Why is the pharmaceutical industry developing drugs geared toward different racial groups? How have advances in reproductive technologies challenged or reinforced our understandings of our bodies? Why and how is sexuality a key site of scientific debate? Finally, how has the genomic age reshaped (or reinforced) our understandings of race, sex, and sexuality?

Power, Community and Social Justice Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research Students are expected to spend at least six to eight hours a week of preparation and work outside of class time.