The Body and Society in Europe

This seminar course explores topics in the history of the body in Europe, from the medieval period to the 1880s. The course will begin with an introduction to Galen’s humoral theories of the body that informed the diagnosis and treatment of illness in Europe for centuries. We will look at the role of the body in religious practices in the medieval period, and its role as evidence in the witch trials of the early modern period. We will also look to the framing of sexual difference and consider how these parameters have shaped contemporary gender politics and medical practice. We will trace outbreaks of infectious disease – from the bubonic plague, to syphilis, to cholera– and the implications on the social, cultural, political, and economic structures of everyday life. Students will learn about the professionalization of the medical field, the rise of public health institutions, and the ways in which authorities policed social behavior on the grounds of public health. Together, we will examine the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and class in the understanding and treatment of the body within society. Students will also be challenged to ground their understanding of social and cultural history in a broader history of the body and embodiment. In doing so, students will examine how ideas surrounding the body change over the course of time, and how we, as historians, can account for and assess such changes.