The primary goal of COR 240: Bodies is to explore different conceptions of embodiment in the Western tradition, and the profound influence the physical body has on identity, ethical frameworks, and the construction of knowledge.

In the first year of the Core, you learned how interactions between the natural world, social environment, and sensory information influence brain development. These embodied interactions impact how concepts of both self and community develop over a lifetime. COR 240: Bodies takes up this line of inquiry by exploring the nature of embodiment from the disciplinary perspectives of sociology, biology, philosophy, religious studies, and media studies. This course also investigates the significance of representation as a complex set of social practices. You will examine the representation of physical difference in a variety of contexts, how bodies have historically been imbued with specific sets of cultural values that privilege certain viewpoints and perspectives over others. A critical component of this investigation is the evaluation of how identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, and ability is inscribed onto and performed through different types of bodies. You will become aware of myriad ways the body influences their phenomenal experience of the world, and how we understand our place within it.

This digital companion includes a mix of primary texts, cultural artifacts, and current debates that will help you interrogate the nature of embodiment in different places and time periods. This information is organized by concepts, themes, and issues related to the study of the body from multiple perspectives and across different disciplines. Our interdisciplinary approach will foster intellectual rigor and integrative thinking while reinforcing the central role the body plays in determining the past, present, and future of nothing less than our own humanity.