Description
“Man is born naked but is everywhere in clothes (or their symbolic equivalents),” writes the anthropologist Terence Turner. “We cannot tell how this came to be, but we can say something about why it should be so and what it means.” Turner’s classic text on dress
and the body describes the interface of matter, technology, and meaning that is clothing, and calls it as “the social skin.” But who (or what) is the self in this understanding of the social? And
how do natural and synthetic materials - textiles, pigments, thread, beads, hide, tissue - fashion its body? This first-year writing seminar focuses on observing, understanding, and representing the social skin, through a focus on materials. Students will be introduced to theories of dress, material culture, difference, and the body drawn from anthropology, fashion studies, and conservation. Weekly writing assignments will be tailored around student interests in fashion, the body, and symbolic practices. We will read work by Mary Douglas, Roxane Gay, and Julietta Singh, and think through artwork by Rebecca Belmore, Nick Cave, and Cecilia Vicuña, among others.
Notes
Open to Gallatin first-year students only. The Gallatin School allows students to freely register for most courses through the end of the first week of classes. Beginning on the first day of the second week of class, students will require permission from the instructor in order to register for this class.
Only Open to
First-Years
Type
First-Year Writing Seminars
Instruction Mode
In-person