Science and art, the "twin engines of creativity," are still (within the post–Enlightenment academy) stereotypically thought to be at opposite ends of the intellectual spectrum. However, art and science share a common ground that can be characterized as an underlying will to enhance human understanding and extend our experience of the world.

This multi-media seminar is devoted to exploring globally, historical and present-day expressions of the relationship between art, science and technology. To this end we will explore various—often controversial—technological collaborations between scientists and artists from different countries who represent different cultures, whose medium and message is the human body in various guises: assembled, genetically engineered, robotic, cyborgian, plastinated, surgically altered, transgenic, and biotechnologically enhanced. We will also explore how these collaborations and guises shape popular culture ideas about and trends in body-modification.

This course fulfills the LS&A Humanities distribution requirement