SHUM 4614

Polluted Senses

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2017-2018 Catalog.

Nothing is more essential to humans than everyday sensory experiencing. We feel the rain on our skin, or smell the stench of garbage, and decide what to do. Our senses clue us into possibilities and potential dangers. But are our sensory experiences universal? No. We have ample evidence that what people consider as their senses varies widely across societies, cultures, and national borders. Sensory experiencing also changes over time, with new technologies. This seminar engages the global diversity of sensory apprehension, honing in on multiple sensory forms of 'pollution' (aesthetic, political, ecological, religious, legal and cultural), and emerging conceptual and experiential approaches to "polluted senses." Concepts and enactments of pollution affect what is communally sacred, social, and environmental, but also what is degenerative, contaminated, or corrupt such as health or moral crises and social, political conflicts.

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

When Offered Fall.

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