Last modified: 25 Jul 2024 15:46
The body is often considered as something tangible, material, somehow ‘natural’. However, our understanding of the function and appearance of body parts and bodily phenomena is heavily shaped by social and cultural expectations connected with ideas of sanity and illness, beauty and ugliness, normativity and deviancy. This course invites students to explore the historical development of these ideas, in order to question the supposed naturalness of the meaning we give to different body parts, body shapes, and bodily practices.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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For centuries, the body has been a central element influencing people’s power, attractiveness, social status and discrimination. This course will give you an overview of historical research on the theme of the body, that will help you reflect on the development of social and cultural ideas around body parts and bodily phenomena. Lectures will introduce you to how historians have discussed macro-topics like:
Content will touch upon different historical periods (from medieval to contemporary) and different methodological approaches. In each weekly seminar, you will have the opportunity to work collaboratively on a primary source related to an aspect of these macro-topics. Classwork will be centred on exploring how the cultural and social meanings of a specific body part/phenomenon emerge in a textual, visual or video source. In this way, you will have the opportunity to see how certain ideas around the body were naturalised in official documents, literature, press, and popular culture.
In terms of assessment, you will be able to choose a micro-topic (such as the history of periods, plastic and cosmetic surgery, makeup, hairstyles like mullets or Afro, body hair, etc) according to your interests. The topic will be the focus of both your annotated bibliography and your final essay. Overall, the module intends to give you knowledge and understanding of the impact of social and cultural ideas in shaping the perception of the body, and the ability to further develop fundamental skills for historical research, including the analysis of primary and secondary sources and the ability to manage a research project independently.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 70 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Students will submit a 3,000-word essay on the topic chosen in consultation with course co-ordinator, that they have started researching for Assessment 1. Students will be asked to consider how their topic can be framed in an EDI perspective, taking issues of normativity and subversion, discrimination and empowerment connected with their topic into account.Feedback will be provided online through MyAberdeen. |
Word Count | 3000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Apply | To observe and apply different methodologies of historical research, and to practice research methods such as the creation of an annotated bibliography. |
| Factual | Understand | To gain understanding of the medical, social and cultural conceptualisation of body parts and bodily phenomena and their historical development. |
| Procedural | Analyse | To autonomously research a specific topic within the history of the body, using relevant primary and secondary source materials effectively. |
| Reflection | Understand | From an EDI perspective, to understand how ideas around the body have historically created forms of discrimination based on gender, sex, race, disability, and age. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
A 1,500-word annotated bibliography on a specific topic within those illustrated in the module, chosen by the student. Students will choose a specific topic (eg a body part, a bodily phenomenon, an illness, a form of bodily adornment) in consultation with the course coordinator and they will prepare an annotated bibliography on the specific topic, which will then be useful to complete Assessment 2. Students will be required to make a list of at least 15 relevant secondary sources, and to add a comment (ca. 100 words) on the relevance of each source. Feedback will be provided online through MyAberdeen. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Apply | To observe and apply different methodologies of historical research, and to practice research methods such as the creation of an annotated bibliography. |
| Factual | Understand | To gain understanding of the medical, social and cultural conceptualisation of body parts and bodily phenomena and their historical development. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | To gain understanding of the medical, social and cultural conceptualisation of body parts and bodily phenomena and their historical development. |
| Procedural | Analyse | To autonomously research a specific topic within the history of the body, using relevant primary and secondary source materials effectively. |
| Conceptual | Apply | To observe and apply different methodologies of historical research, and to practice research methods such as the creation of an annotated bibliography. |
| Reflection | Understand | From an EDI perspective, to understand how ideas around the body have historically created forms of discrimination based on gender, sex, race, disability, and age. |
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