In this course we will explore the scientific and artistic figuration of human and animal bodies from the Enlightenment period through the present day. The study of anatomy will serve as a jumping off point for examining broader social issues related to the scientific investigation of human and animal forms. How does the study of dissected, dismembered and displayed bodies affect perceptions of race, gender, class and sexuality? How do ideas surrounding non-human organisms inform conceptions of nature, culture, and humanity? These questions will form the basis of an eight week course centered around readings from art history, history of science and literature, as well as a selection of scientific and cultural objects, ranging from paintings to zoological illustrations to museum exhibits. Throughout the semester, we will consider how scientific discourses on the body influenced artistic developments and the parallel manner in which the deployment of artistic media, techniques and stylistic modes helped establish the limits of scientific representation. We thus consider how illustration, photography and other visual media also constitute ways of "doing" science.

HISTART Distribution Requirements: 4. Modern and Contemporary, D. Europe and the US