16470
Seminar
SoSe 22: The face: an approach from many angles
Lina Meruane
Comments
What makes a face and what does a face mean today? We will examine this question from an interdisciplinary perspective: the historical emergence of the face as a locus of political and cultural importance since the antiquity; the anthropological and philosophical approaches to the face as a marker of identity, both personal and ethnic; the symbolic meanings of the face in the literature and the visual arts. We will address its centrality in the so-called science of eugenics established in the late 19th century and used to horrific ends in the 20th century, and its revival in the current technologies of surveillance through the creation of the largest facial archive ever imagined. We will not forget that the face as evidence has also been instrumental in human rights activism throughout the world. Finally, we will discuss voluntary (surgical) transformations of the face and changing ideals of beauty vis a vis masking, concealment, invisibility as well as forms of gender violence regarding the face. Two facial specialists, a cultural philosopher and a plastic surgeon will join us as guest speakers.
Readings will include works by Chris Abani, Jorge Barón Biza, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Judith Butler, plus films and art works by Francis Bacon, Monica Castillo, Georges Franju, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Alan Schneider, Cindy Sherman, among others.
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13 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Thu, 2022-04-21 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-04-28 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-05-05 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-05-12 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-05-19 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-06-02 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-06-09 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-06-16 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-06-23 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-06-30 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-07-07 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-07-14 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2022-07-21 16:00 - 18:00