Topics in Anthropology: Embodiment and Consciousness - Minds, Bodies, Societies

Mind, Body - two words that seem intuitively clear, yet conceptually ambiguous. In the history of Euro-American thought, mind and body have been separated, opposed, reconnected and put into generative friction within and across disciplines. Cross-culturally, the distinction between "minds" and "bodies" is not universally relevant. This course will start with an introduction to the history of anthropological thought on embodiment and consciousness, in conversation with adjacent disciplines (transcultural psychiatry, gender and sexuality studies, philosophy). The second part of the course is dedicated to the anthropological study of phenomena challenging current mind/body theorizations and methodologies. Our empirical focuses include altered states of consciousness (trance, psychedelia, other-than-human encounters), empathy, somatization and functional disorders, S/M and the aesthetics of pain. Special attention is paid to the integration of traditional and multi-modal ethnography, namely haptography and the technology of touch.
Course Attributes: EN S; AS SSC; FA SSC; BU BA; AR SSC

Topics in Anthropology: Embodiment and Consciousness - Minds, Bodies, Societies

ANTHROPOLOGY 5104

Section 01