Critical Theory in Medicine and Healing

This upper division undergraduate lecture examines the role that critical theory (in its many forms) has played in medical anthropological scholarship over the last three decades. We engage topics such as political economy, biopower, structural violence, feminist critique, and ontological multiplicity.

Courses 

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Eric Plemons, Ph.D.

Embodied Knowledges

This upper division undergraduate course explores questions of how and where bodies "know." Moving beyond a dualistic model of mind/body, we engage sensorial learning as part of this seminar. Course readings and discussions are complemented by physical, technical learning--learning to knit, play an instrument, serve a tennis ball, and so on. These projects of embodied learning enrich our intellectual scholarship. 

Bodies In Medicine

This lower division undergraduate course introduces students to major areas of scholarship in medical anthropology through the analysis of surgical procedures. For example, we examine invidualism through studying the separation of conjoined twins, kinship relations through the study of in-family kidney transplant, and nationalism through an anlysis of prosthetic technologies for the rehabilitation of war veterans.

Third Sex, Transsex, No Sex: Reading Gender Varieties

This lower division undergraduate course introduces students to concepts of extra- and supernumerary sexual and gender identities. We read from different moments in history and across geographic and cultural boundaries to explore the many ways that bodies, practices and forms of life have been imagined and practiced. 

Sexuality in 20th Century Anthropology

This upper division undergraduate course traces the problem of "sexuality" as it has been treated in anthropological research. We engage scholarly work and attend to the political and academic conditions under which such work was (or was not) produced.