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Screening (Ab)normal Bodies
Undergraduate | MAQ-MECX322 | 2019
Course information for 2019 intake
Question assumptions of what makes one body normal but not another. Challenge attitudes directed towards disability, body modification and obesity. Engage with social, political and ethical theories. Assess how society assigns normality.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- No ATAR needed,
- No prior study
- Duration
- -
HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Screening (Ab)normal Bodies
About this subject
At the completion of this subject students have developed the following skills:
- Identify the ways in which ‘the body’ is understood and experienced across a range of contexts.
- Interrogate key concepts around ‘the body’ and normalising practices, showing an awareness of debates around definitions of these terms.
- Effectively communicate a theoretically-informed account of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of embodied subjectivity and sociality.
- Use key methods of critical analysis to discuss social, economic, legal and/or medical practices which focus on bodily-being.
- Critically discuss ethics in contemporary practices and debates around normalisation of ‘the body’.
- Contemporary theories of the body
- (Ab) normalcy
- Dis/ability
- Choice
- Mutilation or Modification
- Suffering
- Cosmetic Surgery
- 'Non-mainstream' body modification
- Transgenderism
- Circumcision or Genital Cutting
- Intersex
This subject was previously known as CLTX300 AbNormal Bodies.
Our bodies give us a world, and already have meaning, both for ourselves and others. We are directed at every level to align our bodies with cultural norms – but what about modes of embodiment that don't conform to what we generally understand as 'normal’? In this degree, we turn our attention to unquestioned assumptions about what constitutes a ‘normal’ body, consider how these norms are created and think through the experiences of people whose modes of bodily being challenge the boundaries of the ‘normative’. The aim of this subject is to critically examine the ways in which various forms of (ab)normal embodiment are understood in contemporary culture and to explore the social, political and ethical effects of such understandings. Our critical examination may cover disability, pregnancy, fatness, ageing, surgical interventions and other forms of body modification.
- Assignment 1 (15%)
- Assignment 2 (20%)
- Assignment 3 (20%)
- Assignment 4 (45%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
This research-intensive university in north-western Sydney offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. With over 44,000 current students, Macquarie has a strong reputation for welcoming international students and embracing flexible and convenient study options, including its partnership with Open Universities Australia.
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Entry requirements
No entry requirements
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
MAQ-CLTX300 (Not currently available)
Additional requirements
- Equipment requirements - Audio/Visual equipment
- Other requirements -
- Additional materials
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
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