Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0291 - The Bioapparatus

The bioapparatus is a term coined by two Canadian media artists, Nell Tenhaaf and Catherine Richards, to cover a wide range of issues concerning the technologized body. This course will explore the relationship of the mind and body to technology in contemporary art and culture. We will consider the resonance and currency of the bioapparatus in relation to the cyborg, the posthuman, bionics, and transgenics. We will discuss issues such as the nature of the apparatus, re-embodiment, designing the social, natural artifice, cyborg fictions, subjectivities, perfect bodies, virtual environments, the real interface, art machines and bioart. Division III students will have the opportunity to develop an independent paper or portion of their thesis in this course.

Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research In this course, students are expected to spend 8-10 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.