New Class, Spring 2009
CTSJ 222: Body Politics
Linking literature and politics, the course offers an
interdisciplinary analysis of gender, power and the body. The theoretical
center of the course will be Foucault’s work on biopower. We will also look at
issues of class and the body (including Chopin’s The Awakening, Larsen’s
Passing, and Atwood’s Bodily Harm); egalitarian law and the female
body (Wendy Williams, Mary Poovey); science and gender (Emily Martin, Thomas
Laqueur); and pornography (Catherine McKinnon, Laura Kipnis). Race and
multiculturalism can also be viewed through this lens, and we will read
Morrison’s Beloved. Judith Butler’s work offers yet another approach,
questioning whether bodily differences determine sex or gender. Recent Latin
American history of military rule and repression has emphasized the role of the
body and memory in political change.
Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00-11:25 am
Professors: Jane Jaquette and Jean Wyatt
