The Social Body: Identity, Diversity, Embodiment (SOCY393)

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. analyse and describe the role of the body in the organisation of social life, from individual experience to large social structures;
2. effectively communicate why the body is so central to personal and public life in contemporary Western societies;
3. demonstrate knowledge of a range of contemporary social issues that reveal the body to be a site of contemporary political, social, cultural and economic intervention;
4. independently assess different sociological theories used to analyse the social significance of the body, particularly in relation to issues of identity, marginalisation, exclusion and social order;
5. apply knowledge and judgement in the examination of ways in which new technologies and practices for modifying the body may transform identities and wider social relations; and
6. review and write about complex issues involving the body, social justice and social change, demonstrating skills applicable in a professional career.