
This course considers the use of the body as a category of analysis in Canadian history, examining methodological approaches to the material and the discursive body. How did historical perceptions of the body affect the lives of people in Canada? As a tool of examination, how does body history help us access complex cultural and political processes and phenomena such as nationhood, medicine, colonization, consumerism, and popular culture? Beginning with how the body emerged as an area of study, students will engage with a number of weekly thematic readings in gender history that demonstrate how studying the body can illuminate understandings of gender, race, class, sexuality, age, and ability.
This course is offered as a 3.0-unit seminar during the 2022-2023 year.