Spring 2010

ANS 378 • Senior Seminar in Asian Studies-W

Course Description

Social and cultural construction of the human body has been a focus of research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, including Anthropology, History, and Religious Studies. The physical body is a mirror of the social body and the body politic. In the seminar we will read seminal works dealing with both the theoretical aspects in the social construction of the body and the ways in which the human body is articulated and manipulated within the society of East and South Asia.

Grading Policy

Weekly written report on readings and active participation in the seminar: 40% Research paper: 60%

Texts

Mary Douglas: Purity and Danger Mary Douglas: Natural Symbols Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney: Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Gananath Obeyesekere: Medusa's Hair Alf Hiltebeitel: Hair:its meaning and power in Asian societies **reader prepared for this class and available in Electronic Reserves

back