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Bodies: A Digital Companion

The Body Project

The Body Project is the common assignment for COR 240: Bodies, which means that every student regardless of your focus section will need to complete it by the end of the semester. The Body Project is based on a phenomenological research design, where you will be identifying, researching, and reflecting on an "embodied experience" related to your course focus. While all experiences are embodied, an embodied experience is one that problematizes, highlights, or draws attention to the body and embodiment. This embodied experience will be your object of study or "phenomena" (sec. 1: What is phenomenology?).

Each professor will have their own unique versions and requirements for the Body Project, but the general outline of the common assignment is as follows:

the proposal - identify the embodied experience you plan to study; outline the techniques/strategies you plan to use to study that embodied experience; address ethical considerations related to your proposed research design
research notes and discussion essay - collect information about your embodied experience and record them in your research notes; write a discussion essay that summarizes your research notes, makes connections to concepts covered in the course, and critically reflects on the research process
contextual analysis - examine your embodied experience from its historical and cultural contexts from multiple perspectives, including different academic disciplines/fields; this component may be requirement for your discussion essay or a separate assignment like an annotated bibliography or slideshow
cultural artifact - after each student completes their own individual phenomenological research project, you will join a team (or your entire class might together) to create a cultural artifact; the cultural artifact makes connections between the different embodied experiences studied by each team member and concepts in the course; it needs to make a substantive claim about embodiment
the Bodies Exhibition at the Core Convivium - cultural artifacts from each focus section will be put on display during the Core Convivium, the all-campus event that occurs at the conclusion of the fall semester; the project must stand on its own, which means someone doesn't need to be there to explain how the artifact makes connections between the different embodied experiences (i.e. you will need to provide a title card and a written statement of purpose)

For more information about specific grading rubrics, refer to the specific requirements of the Body Project for your focus section. In terms of assessment, the Body Project is designed to address the four major outcomes of this course:

Articulate conceptions of “embodiment” and the role they play in the construction of knowledge (in the proposal, research notes and discussion essay, cultural artifact, and Bodies Exhibition)
Analyze socio-cultural expectations about physical difference in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, and ability using a variety of media and genres (in the proposal, research notes and discussion essay, contextual analysis, cultural artifact, and Bodies Exhibition)
Situate cultural representations and practices related to the body in the multiple contexts of the Western tradition (in the contextual analysis)
Research and analyze ethical debates about the modification and manipulation of bodies (in the proposal, discussion essay, contextual analysis, and Bodies Exhibition)

Source
Smith, David Woodruff, "Phenomenology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/phenomenology/

Author Information
Katheryn Wright, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Core Divison
Champlain College

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David Woodruff Smith, "Phenomenology" (2016)