Anthropology 397GR - ST- Gender, Race and the Body

In this course, we will examine bodily representations, experiences, and expressions at the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality. We will examine how race, gender, and sexuality have historically gained meaning through representations of the body in a range of contexts, including biological and social sciences, laws, popular media, advertisements, and exhibitions (in museums). Yet, we will also consider how people have creatively "troubled" these constructions and boundaries. Through the theme of embodiment, we will consider people's experiences with the ways that bodies are made targets of multiple forms of racial and gendered violence, objectification, labor, and experimentation. Yet, we will also trace how the body has become a means for expressing both resistance and visions for freedom, for example through performance and the arts.