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ANSO 325 The Body in Society

This course explores the body and embodiment through a social science lens. While the body is a biological entity, the body is also social. The perceptions and meanings of the body are embedded in complex sociocultural contexts. Students will examine how social processes and cultural practices shape human bodies and our everyday lived experiences. The course will also discuss bodies in relation to gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, and disability. Multimedia materials and a variety of readings are used to study the relationships between the body, culture, and society.

Prerequisites

Special information

Note: Formerly known as SOC 325.
4 Undergraduate credits

Effective May 7, 2025 to present

Meets graduation requirements for

Learning outcomes

General

  • Understands concepts and approaches used to study the body and embodiment in anthropology, sociology, and related fields of study.
  • Examines how gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, and disability influence embodied experiences in everyday life.
  • Develops critical thinking skills needed to analyze contemporary social issues in relation to the body.
  • Applies course materials to one¿s own life, allowing for a deeper understanding of bodily experience.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Goal 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences

  • Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
  • Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.
  • Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.
  • Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues.

Goal 7A: Human Diversity, Race, Power, and Justice in the United States

  • Understand the development of and the changing meanings of group identities in the United States' history and culture.
  • Demonstrate an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups in contemporary society.
  • Analyze their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry.
  • Describe and discuss the experience and contributions (political, social, economic, etc.) of the many groups that shape American society and culture, in particular those groups that have suffered discrimination and exclusion.
  • Demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity.