Biological Issues in Cultural Theory

Contemporary culture is increasingly preoccupied by biological themes and issues—genomes, brain images, biotechnology, the natural environment, etc.—and, not unrelatedly, by a wave of new biological determinisms: "gay genes," "God genes," mental "hardwiring," etc. At the same time, ongoing work in fields such as developmental biology, ethology, neuroscience and science studies increasingly challenges classic dualisms of nature/culture and mind/body along with traditional assumptions about the nature of biological entities and the operations of scientific knowledge. The seminar will focus on a selection of these issues and developments especially relevant to the interests of humanities scholars and students of culture and cultural theory. Enrollment limited to 20 graduate students.