FYS 15 The Body in Words
How do we describe pain to healthcare professionals? What does it really mean to say that someone is "fighting" cancer? What discourses contribute to establishing normative bodily ideals and how do they influence our bodily experiences? These are some of the questions addressed in this course as we explore the relationship between the body and how we talk about the body. Exploring texts produced by or about people who experience (dis)abilities, ailments, cognitive decline, or chronic pain we will delve into debates of normalcy, ableism, and healthcare communication, we will focus on how we adhere values to the materiality of the body through its linguistics codifications.
Open only to first-year frosh.