SPTA2014 Body and Materiality (5 cr)

The course introduces different perspectives on the study of embodiment and materiality and familiarizes the student with the concepts and theoretical approaches of these perspectives. The course literature discusses gendered body norms as well as the manifold ways in which different forms of new materialism analyses relations between materiality, agency, and political power.

By taking the course the student:

· Becomes familiarized with the central concepts and theoretical approaches used when studying the body, embodiment, and materiality.

· Understands the complex interactions between embodied experience, affect, and power relations.

· Understands how bodily norms are gendered and how they are socially and historically produced.

· Learns to understand the relations between different conceptions of materiality and their philosophical foundations.

· Understands the conceptual tensions between many theories of materiality and social constructionism.

The course Body and Materiality can continuously be taken in the format of an electronic exam (in Exam) or in the format of an essay (in which case contact the instructor by email). It can also be taken as a lecture course or seminar when such teaching is offered, or as an equivalent course offered by Hilma, a national gender studies network offering online courses: In English | HILMA (helsinki.fi)

Read the books:

Bordo, Susan (1993/2003): Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body

Coole, Diana & Frost, Samantha (eds. 2010): New Materialisms. Ontology, Agency and Politics.