ARTHIST 317S · also DANCE 317S, MEDREN 217S, ROMST 317S
The Body in the Early Modern World
Nandi Cohen-Aponte
Description from DukeHub
This course explores early modern understandings of what it meant to be human. Prior to Darwinian theories of natural selection in the nineteenth century, how did people draw the boundaries between humans, animals, and monsters? This course delves into the scientific and humanistic theories of the human from the 1500s to the 1800s and their artistic representations in Europe, Latin America, and the African diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean. The course will explore cross-cultural understandings of the human body during a major period of early modern colonization and globalization. Case studies will focus on topics of race, disability, ritual and healing, gender, and sexuality.
Skills
No skill passed the confidence bar. Weak matches go to review instead of this page: an AI pass that has to quote the description, then a person.
AI-resilient: 1 of 5
- No: Physical, lab or field work
- No: Live work with people
- No: Judgment someone is accountable for
- No: A craft you practice with your hands or body
- Yes: Small, in-person format · seminar, 18 seats per section
The checks lean on Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025), which found generative AI applies least to physical work and hands-on work with people. A signal, not a promise. How the score works
More in ARTHIST
- Conquering the Cosmos: The Art and Visual Culture of the Space Race ARTHIST 106CNS
- The Archaeology of Death: Ritual and Social Structure in the Ancient World ARTHIST 143S
- Museum Theory and Practice ARTHIST 220
- Arts Policy, Leadership, and Engagement ARTHIST 228
- Japanese Architecture ARTHIST 234
- Science Fiction Film ARTHIST 238S