COURSE OUTLINE

Anthropology 2263A-650
Bodies: Making, Buying, Living and Dying
Summer 2020 ∙ Distance Studies

This course runs for 12 weeks from May 4 – July 31, 2020.

Instructor: Dr. Karyn Olsen

Pronouns: she/her
Office: Online
Office hours: Online, by appointment
Email: kolsen@uwo.ca

Calendar Course Description

Bodies are physical and sensual, personal and public, the result of evolution, and yet flexibly attuned to
local histories and desires. This course will take a biocultural approach to exploring what bodies are,
how they are used, by whom, for what purposes, and how we come to know such things.

Credit value: 0.5 credit

Prerequisite(s): None.
Antirequisite(s): None.

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Course Syllabus
Why take this course? This course draws on cultural, medical, archaeological, and biological fields in
anthropology to engage students in critical reflections on the human body. We will start by considering
how anthropologists contribute to the study of bodies and then examine how body “norms” are
constructed and disrupted. We will discuss key aspects of our social and cultural identities that are
enacted and resisted through bodies. You will have the opportunity to review ideas on “body image” as
we explore perspectives on weight and body modification. We will consider the different ways that
anthropologists help us to understand notions of sick and healthy bodies. We will explore
representations of the body in the ancient past and how modern anthropologists navigate the ethics of
studying and displaying human remains. Finally, you will have the chance to examine how we treat
bodies after death across cultures and through time.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Define embodiment and other key terminology used to conceptualize the human body
physically and socially.
2. Discuss approaches to understanding the human body from various perspectives including,
sociocultural, medical, archaeological, and bioarchaeological perspectives.
3. Compare and ask questions about body “norms” and the ways in which bodies are represented
and perceived across cultures and through time.
4. Complete the essential first steps of scholarly research, including critically evaluating scholarly
sources relevant to the anthropological study of the body.
5. Reflect on and articulate connections among social constructions of the body, the scholarly
literature, and your own experiences.

Course Materials
There is no textbook for this course. All readings will be available as PDF downloads from the Western
Libraries Website.

Evaluation
Learning Outcomes Demonstrated
Assessment Weight
by Completing the Assessment
Weekly Quizzes 12% LO1; LO2
Discussion/Reflection Activities 28% LO2; LO3
Response Paper 1 20% LO3; LO4; LO5
Response Paper 2 20% LO3; LO4; LO5
Take Home Exam 20% LO3; LO4; LO5

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Weekly Quizzes – 12%
The quizzes incorporated into this course are intended to help you stay on top of the course material.
Each quiz consists of several multiple choice and true/false questions and is based on the readings and
resources posted to the OWL site for that week. Quizzes are open book and you can take as long as you
need to complete once you have started them, provided you do not go past the due date. You may work
together if you wish.

Note: Each quiz will only be open for a one-week period. If you miss a quiz deadline, you will not be able
to complete that quiz. The lowest graded quiz will be dropped from your overall mark.

Discussion/Reflection Activities – 28%

The Discussion Activities/Reflections embedded in this course are opportunities to engage with course
content, see the thoughts and opinions of your peers, contribute your own questions, or ideas, present
evidence from independent research on the web, or reflect on coursework. Additional details for each
discussion activity will be posted on the course OWL site.

Note: Discussion Activities are not accepted following deadline given that each one is relevant to its own
week and contributions are typically synthesized and posted for everyone to read. If you miss a
deadline, you will not be able to complete that activity. The lowest graded discussion activity will be
dropped from your overall mark

Response Papers (2 x 20%)

During this course, you will write two short response papers (750 words each). A response paper is not a
research essay but a critical analysis that asks you to consider your assumptions on a topic, articulate
what you have learned, practice posing research questions, and make connections among the published
literature. For each paper, you will get to choose a focus subject from 1-2 provided options covered in
the previous weeks. Additional details and instructions on topics for reflection papers will be provided
on OWL.

Take Home Exam (20%)

The take home exam will follow the same format as the response papers assigned in this course (750
words). For the exam, you will get to choose a focus subject from 1-2 provided options covered in the
final six weeks of the course. Similar to the previous response papers, you will be asked to consider your
assumptions on a topic, articulate what you have learned, pose a research question, and find
connections in the published literature.

Note: A 5% late penalty per day (including weekends and holidays) applies for both the Response Papers
and the Take Home Exam. None will be accepted one week past the due date.

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Course Specific Statements and Policies

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

I would like to create a learning environment that supports diverse thoughts, perspectives, and
experiences. We all bring unique identities to the classroom that reflect differences in age, ethnicity,
gender, sexuality, ability, religion, and class. I will gladly honour any request to address you by an
alternate name or gender pronoun. I will attempt to foster an environment in which students are able to
express ideas and hear and respect one another. Please let me know if there are ways that you think I
could improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other students/student groups.

Statement on Engaging in the Online Learning Environment

This course relies on the OWL site to connect you with the syllabus, assignment outlines, content, and
other course material. Here, you will engage with me and your peers as we progress through the course.
Please keep track of weekly tasks and contribute respectfully to online activities.

Statement on Email
You may contact me by email, but it may take up to 24 hours for a response. If I cannot provide an
immediate response, or if the matter is something that I cannot address easily in an email, we will plan
to meet virtually using Zoom or Collaborate. Please ensure that your emails are worded professionally
and include the course number (1026G) in the subject line.

Statement on Plagiarism
Students must write their assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea from
another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate
and by proper referencing. It is also a scholastic offence to submit the same work for credit in more than
one course. Plagiarism is a major scholastic offence.

All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial
plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers
submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the
purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is
subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and
Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).

Statement on Student Success

• If you need support with your academic writing skills, please visit the Writing Support Centre in
person or online at: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/writing/. The Centre aims to (1) enhance your
writing and communication skills and build your confidence, (2) equip you with tools, resources
and knowledge to effectively communicate through writing, (3) increase your critical analysis
abilities to effectively communicate scholarly ideas, (4) convey university level writing
expectations, and (5) provide you with the skills you need to navigate academic transitions.

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 • Learning Development and Success (http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/learning/) supports your
development as student by answering questions and providing advice on how to succeed in your
studies at Western. They can help you to develop and strengthen academic skills.
• The Wellness Education Centre (http://wec.uwo.ca/) will help you navigate any kind of mental
health issue (e.g., anxiety, stress, etc.) WEC provides free assistance in connecting you with
wellness services and resources on and off campus.

Statement on Seeking Special Accommodations

No accommodations will be granted retroactively more than 10 days after an assignment’s due date or a
missed quiz or test. Please contact an academic counsellor immediately if you will be seeking
accommodations based on medical or compassionate grounds.

Institutional Statements and Policies

All students should familiarize themselves with Western's current academic policies regarding
accessibility, plagiarism and scholastic offences, and medical accommodation. These policies are
outlined, with links to the full policies, at:
http://anthropology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/academic_policies.html

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Weekly Breakdown of Topics and Due Dates

DATE TOPIC DUE

Week 1: May 4 to 10 How Anthropologists define and study DA1 due May 13
“bodies” Q1 due May 17
Week 2: May 11 to 17 Normative bodies: Questioning what is Q2 due May 17
“normal”
Week 3: May 18 to 24 Cultural perspectives on big bodies DA2 due May 22
Q3 due May 24
Week 4: May 25 to 29 Transformed: Body modification in the Response Paper 1 due June 7
present Q4 due Jun 7
No class: May 30 - June 5
Week 5: Jun 8 to 14 Embodying race and gender DA3 due Jun 12
Q5 due Jun 14
Week 6: Jun 15 to 21 Sick bodies Q6 due Jun 21

Week 7: Jun 22 to 28 Ancient bodies DA4 due Jun 26

Q7 due Jun 28
Week 8: Jun 29 to Jul 5 Embodying identity through material Response Paper 2 due Jul 3
culture Q8 due Jul 5
Week 9: Jul 6 to 12 Transformed: Body modification in the past DA5 due Jul 10
Q9 due Jul 12
Week 10: Jul 13 to 19 Bodies as evidence of care in the past Q10 due Jul 19

Week 11: Jul 20 to 26 Dead bodies DA6 due Jul 24

Q11 due Jul 26
Week 12: Jul 27 to 31 Study and display of human remains Q12 due Aug 2

Exam Period Take Home Exam posted Aug

1 and due Aug 7

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Weekly Readings

Week 1 - How Anthropologists define and study “bodies”

Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, and Margaret Lock. 1987. “The Mindful Body: A Prolegomenon to Future Work
in Medical Anthropology.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 1(1): 6-41.
https://doi.org/10.1525/maq.1987.1.1.02a00020.

Week 2 - Normative bodies: questioning the idea of a “normal” body

Lock, Margaret, and Vinh-Kim Nguyen. 2018. “The Normal Body” In An Anthropology of Biomedicine, 29-
50. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Půtová, Barbora. 2018. “Freak shows. Otherness of the Human Body as a Form of Public Presentation.”
Anthropologie: International Journal of Human Diversity and Evolution, 56(2): 91-102.
https://doi.org/10.26720/anthro.17.07.20.1

Week 3 - Cultural perspectives on big bodies

Brewis, Alexandra A. 2010. “Big-Body Symbolism, Meanings, and Norms.” In Obesity: Cultural and
Biocultural Perspectives, 99-124, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Brewis, Alexandra A., Amber Wutich, Ashlan Falletta-Cowden and Isa Rodriguez Soto. 2011. “Body
Norms and Fat Stigma in Global Perspective.” Current Anthropology 52(2): 269-276.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/659309.

Week 4 - Transformed bodies: Body modification in the present

Edmonds, A. 2007. “‘The Poor Have the Right to Be Beautiful’: Cosmetic Surgery in Neoliberal Brazil.”
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13(2): 363-381.

Simpson, Ruth, and Alison Pullen. 2018. “‘Cool’ Meanings: Tattoo Artists, Body Work and Organizational
‘Bodyscape’.” Work, Employment and Society 32(1): 169-185.
https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0950017017741239.

Week 5 - Embodying Race and Gender

Martin, Emily. 1991. “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on
Stereotypical Male-Female Roles.” Signs, 16(3): 485-501. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174586.

Blackwood, Evelyn. 2009. “Trans Identities and Contingent Masculinities: Being Tombois in Everyday
Practice” Feminist Studies, 35(3): 454-480.

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St. Louis, Brett. 2003. “Sport, Genetics and the ‘Natural Athlete’: The Resurgence of Racial Science.”
Body & Society, 9(2): 75–95.

Week 6 - Sick bodies

Singer, Merrill. 2004. “The Social Origins and Expressions of Illness.” British Medical Bulletin 69: 9-19.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldh016.

Lock, Margaret, and Vinh-Kim Nguyen. 2018. “Global Health.” In An Anthropology of Biomedicine, 291-
309. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Manderson, Lenore, and Susan Levine. 2020. “COVID-19, Risk, Fear, and Fallout.” Medical Anthropology,
1-4. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2020.1746301.

Week 7 - Ancient bodies

Joyce, Rosemary A. 2005. “Archaeology of the Body.” Annual Review of Anthropology. 34: 139-158.

Zimmerman, Michael R. 2004. “Paleopathology and the Study of Ancient Remains.” In Encyclopedia of
Medical Anthropology, edited by C. R. Ember, and M. Ember M, 49-58. Boston, MA: Springer.

Fisher, Genevieve, and Loren, Diana DiPaolo. 2003. “Embodying Identity in Archaeology.” Cambridge
Archaeological Journal 13(2): 225-230.

Week 8 - Embodying identity through material culture

Loren, Diana DiPaolo. 2003. “Refashioning a Body Politic in Colonial Louisiana.” Cambridge
Archaeological Journal 13(2): 231-237.

Joyce, Rosemary A. 2003. “Making Something of Herself: Embodiment in Life and Death at Playa de los
Muertos, Honduras.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 13(2): 248-261.

Week 9 - Transformed bodies: Body modification in the past

Williams, Jocelyn S., and White, Christine D. 2006. “Dental Modification in the Postclassic Population
from Lamanai, Belize. ” Ancient Mesoamerica 17(1): 129-151.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536106050267.

Lee, Christine, and Lei Sun. 2019. “A Bioarchaeological and Biocultural Investigation of Chinese
Footbinding at the Xuecun Archaeological Site, Henan Province, China.” International Journal of
Paleopathology 25: 9-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2019.03.001.

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Week 10 - Bodies as evidence of care in the past

Krutak, Lars. 2019. “Therapeutic Tattooing in the Arctic: Ethnographic, Archaeological, and Ontological
Frameworks of Analysis.” International Journal of Paleopathology 25: 99-109.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.05.003.

Tilley, Lorna, and Oxenham, Marc F. 2011. “Survival Against the Odds: Modeling the Social Implications
of Care Provision to Seriously Disabled Individuals.” The International Journal of Paleopathology 1: 35-
42. https://doi.org/10.1016_j.ijpp.2011.02.003.

Week 11 - Dead bodies

Gardeła, Leszek and Kamil Kajkowski. 2013. “Vampires, Criminals or Slaves? Reinterpreting ‘Deviant
Burials’ in Early Medieval Poland.” World Archaeology, 45(5): 780–796.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2013.849853.

Adams, Kathleen M. 2018. “Leisure in the ‘Land of the Walking Dead’: Western Mortuary Tourism, the
Internet, and Zombie Pop Culture in Toraja, Indonesia.” In Leisure and Death An Anthropological Tour of
Risk, Death, and Dying, edited by A. Kaul and J. Skinner, 97-120. Denver: University of Colorado Press.

Week 12 - Studying and displaying human remains

Lambert, Patricia M. 2012. “Ethics and Issues in the Use of Human Skeletal Remains in Paleopathology.”
In A Companion to Paleopathology, edited by Anne L. Grauer, 47-65. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Joy, Jody. 2014. “Looking Death in the Face: Different Attitudes towards Bog Bodies and their Display
with a Focus on Lindow Man.” In Regarding the Dead: Human Remains in the British Museum, edited by
A. Fletcher, D. Antoine and J.D. Hill, 10-19. London: British Museum Press.

Bates, Stephen. 2010. “Bodies Impolitic? Reading Cadavers.” International Journal of Communication, 4:
198-219.

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