CSP 17 Myths and Metaphors of Modern American Life

Reading health trends as texts, this course is an examination of some perplexing dilemmas facing Americans today and the intellectual tools we use to interpret our world. On the one hand, these include issues exposing inequality that demand justice activism; and on the other, those arising from the pathology of privilege that tend to involve conspiracist thinking and boundary work. Using theory from Religious Studies, Feminist Literary Studies, and Critical Disability Studies, topics will include: The Pure Body, Diet as allegory, toxin cleansing as metaphor; Super babies; Food sovereignty, Food fear: Organics as liberation, GMO's as "frankenfoods"; Neurodiversity: autism, eugenics, ableism, and the vaccine conspiracy; Circumcision: mapping identity onto the (cultured) body; Body Hacking: realizing our cyborg selves.