Of Beauty and Violence

What is the place of beauty in human experience and how does it find articulation in words? Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course explores the unexpected expressions and uses of beauty in a variety of social and ethnographic contexts marked by violence. We trace the potential of beauty to act at times as a counterweight to violence, sociopolitical crises, and marginalization, but also how it may be used to deepen already existing power structures. This is a writing-intensive course aimed at developing students’ ethnographic writing skills. No prerequisites.