Sensing Bodies, Sensing the World: Anthropology of Embodiment and Perception

Undergraduate / Graduate

In this seminar, we will learn about anthropological understandings of embodiment and perception while engaging in activities that encourage us to attune to our bodies and sensory worlds. Drawing on literature and theoretical approaches from scholars including anthropologists, philosophers, and historians, we will consider questions such as: How do we use our senses to make sense of our bodies and the world around us? How do cultural and historical beliefs and practices shape sensory experiences and conceptions of the body? The readings, which will focus primarily on phenomenological, biopolitical, and posthuman approaches, will challenge divides between biology and culture, body and mind, human and nature, and self and other. As we explore these themes, we will discuss methods of sensory ethnography and work toward our own sensory ethnographies or creative projects. Throughout the course, we will relate the readings to our own embodied experiences, gaining a greater appreciation of the role of the senses (and the body) in shaping our understanding of the world and our place within it. We will use theory to think through our own embodiment and sensory perception of the world and vice versa, prioritizing creative practices and challenging assumptions at methodological as well as theoretical levels.