Sociology of the Body

Unit Code:HAS290

Credit Points	Duration	Contact Hours	Campus	Prerequisite	Corequisite
12.5 Credit Points	1 Semester	3 Hours per Week	Hawthorn	Nil	Nil

Credit Points

Duration

Contact Hours

Campus

Prerequisite

Corequisite

12.5 Credit Points

1 Semester

3 Hours per Week

Hawthorn

Nil

Related Course/s:

A unit of study in the Bachelor of Social Science, Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology), Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications).

Aims & Objectives:

To understand the body in contemporary society as a key site of political, social, cultural and economic intervention.
To understand issues around 'excluded bodies' in struggles for citizenship and emancipation.
To understand the role of medicine in governance and control of the body and bodies.
To explore the experience of being in a body and the frailty of the human body.
To examine the ways that modern technologies have altered ways of being a body and how they have transformed the way in which bodies relate to each other.

On successful completion of this unit students should:

Have developed a sociological awareness of the body in society.
Be able to understand and differentiate between different sociological theories used in the analysis of processes of social order and social control and surveillance of bodies at an individual and population level.
Be able to analyse contemporary social issues in relation to the body.
Have enhanced their ability to identify the social policy implications that stem from the application of a sociological perspective to this particular substantive area of study.

Teaching Methods:

One lecture (1.5 hours) and one tutorial (1.5 hours)

Assessment:

Major essay 40%, Examination 50%, Tutorial participation 10%

Generic Skills Outcomes:

Students are expected to develop a number of graduate attributes. These developments should result in graduates who are:

Capable in their chosen professional areas.
Entrepreneurial in contributing to innovation and development within their business, workplace or community.
Abel to operate effectively and ethically in work and community situations.
Adaptable and able to manage change.
Aware of local and international environments.

Content:

This unit will explore the following themes:

The history and theory of the body.
The body in medicine.
The lived body (embodiment / disembodiment, risky bodies), and cyborgs (the body, information and technology).

Our bodies are most often considered to be biological, material and individual. It is only recently that the body has become an important focus of sociological analysis rather than being seen solely as the preserve of the natural sciences. Under the broad organising themes the unit will explore the following sub-themes:

Gendered and sexed bodies.
Bio surveillance and the disciplined body.
The commodified body and the commodification and marketisation of body parts.
Deviant identity, disability and the construction of difference, focusing on the endangered self, identity and social risk (using the examples of HIV AIDS and social relationships and bodybuilding, drugs and risk).
The biotechnologies and biomechanics used to combat the frailty of the human body.

Reading Materials:

Howson, A (2004), The Body in Society. An introduction, Polity Press, Cambridge UK.
Scheper-Hughes, N, & Wacquant, L (Eds.) (2002), Commodifying Bodies, Sage Publications, London.