SHUM 4606 - The Powers of Skin in Africa

Spring. 4 credits.

Enrollment limited to: 15 students. Intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

S. Langwick.

This class considers the capacities and powers of skin in Africa. Students will read classic historical and ethnographic texts about practices involving skin together with range of theoretical approaches to the body. We will consider topics from beatification, scarification, witchcraft, magic, and traditional medicine to the hygiene campaigns of colonialism, the development of the dermatology as a defined specialty, the rise of global health and medical humanitarianism. Descriptive ethnographic and historical texts will be read as primary evidence along side of a range of theoretical approaches to the lived body with the intention of provoking innovative readings of these primary texts and a greater understanding of the theoretical arguments.

For longer description and Fellows’ bios please visit www.arts.cornell.edu/sochum/index.html.