ANTH 049B. Comparative Perspectives on the Body

Explore how different societies regulate, discipline, and shape the human body. In the first part, we examine social theories and explore the strengths and limitations of different approaches to the study of the body. In the second part, we look at several ethnographic cases and compare diverse cultural practices that range from seemingly traditional practices (such as circumcision and foot binding) to what is currently fashionable (including weight lifting, dieting, aesthetic surgery, piercing, and tattooing). When comparing body modifications through time and space, we seek to understand their socio-economic contexts and relate them to broader cultural meanings and social inequalities. We also investigate how embodiment shapes personal and collective identities (especially gender identities) and vice versa.
Social sciences.
1 credit.
Eligible for GSST, INTP, ESCH, GLBL-Core
Spring 2024. Ghannam.
Spring 2025. Ghannam.
Catalog chapter: Sociology and Anthropology
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/sociology-anthropology

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