Spring 2009

WGS 393 • Race and the Body

Course Description

This course will engage with theories and research methodologies in the sociological study of the body, with a focus on race, racism, gender and sexualities. Emphasis will be placed on close reading of the assigned texts so that discussion can focus on key issues and debates concerning the body in contemporary society, including: the role of space and location; theories of the subject and the meaning of subjectivity; state formation and social control. Through the completion of written assignments and active seminar participation and preparation, students will develop an understanding of the language and conceptual tools necessary to interrogate the practices through which we come to be variously raced, gendered and abled. Students will be encouraged to raise their research concerns in the seminar and we will actively contribute to each other's questions of interest.

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