{"id":2353,"date":"2020-03-04T23:48:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T23:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-the-words\/?page_id=2353"},"modified":"2024-08-02T20:13:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T20:13:38","slug":"uncommon-bodies-brings-innovative-scholarship-to-campus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/the-words-march-2020\/uncommon-bodies-brings-innovative-scholarship-to-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncommon Bodies Brings Innovative Scholarship to Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Professor
Photo by Professor Penelope Geng<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Laura Berglund \u201920<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

February marked the new year\u2019s first session of <\/span>Uncommon Bodies: Research in Early Modern Literature and Culture<\/span><\/a>. This series of research workshops, led by Macalester English Professor Penelope Geng and University of Minnesota French and Italian Professor Jennifer Row, explores conceptualizations of the human body via historical texts and contemporary lenses. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last fall, the group discussed sixteenth and seventeenth century visual art, fairy tales, and literature. Professor Row unpacked gendered and ableist metrics of beauty and intelligence in the French folktale \u201cRiquet with the Tuft,\u201d and Professor Geng put contemporary scholarship in conversation with Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span>Twelfth Night<\/span><\/i> to reflect on early modern practices of shame and shaming. In later gatherings, Carleton College French Literature, Language and Culture Professor Cathy Yandell presented on deformity in French philosopher Michel de Montagine\u2019s essay \u201cOf Cripples.\u201d Finally, UMN graduate students wrapped up 2019 with a discussion about etchings by French artist Jacques Callot.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Geng and Professor Row have hosted sessions at Macalester, the U of M, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and last month Uncommon Bodies returned to Macalester for a workshop titled \u201cEarly Modern Trans x Disabilities.\u201d Here, participants explored disability and trans identities with Willamette University English and Women\u2019s and Gende<\/span>r Studies Professor Professor Allison Hobgood and Bryn Mawr College English Professor Colby Gordon.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Headshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Professor Hobgood began the event with a discussion of Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span>Measure for Measure<\/span><\/i>. She focused on the comedy\u2019s presentation of a fictionalized Vienna that criminalizes and stigmatizes sexuality and constructs hierarchies based on dis\/ability. As a result, characters living with sexually transmitted infections experience marginalizati<\/span>on on multiple fronts but also maintain an inclusive community of their own. Professor Hobgood argued that similar dynamics existed in queer communities during the HIV\/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Headshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next, we heard Professor Gordon speak about trans identity in John Milton\u2019s drama <\/span>Samson Agonistes<\/span><\/i>. The play follows the  biblical figure Samson as he journeys from the embodiment of the Israelites\u2019 favor to the tortured prisoner of his enemies, the Philistines. Professor Gordon drew connections between Samson\u2019s resistance to instrumentalization and contemporary trans activists. <\/span>Mayhem<\/span><\/i>, which can describe the \u201cwillful destruction of healthy tissue,\u201d and its linguistic similarities with <\/span>maim<\/span><\/i> inform the play in addition to trans experiences of state authority. Just as Samson\u2019s body and power belongs to the Israelites and God, contemporary systems of authority claim ownership over trans bodies. Medical systems prioritize reproduction over bodily autonomy, and in doing so further the inaccessibility of trans healthcare.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to Professor Geng and Professor Row for bringing this exciting conversation to campus \u2014 and to Professor Hobgood and Professor Gordon for sharing their scholarship with us. For more information, and to learn about upcoming events, visit the <\/span>Uncommon Bodies website<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Twitter account<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laura Berglund \u201920 February marked the new year\u2019s first session of Uncommon Bodies: Research in Early Modern Literature and Culture. This series of research workshops, led by Macalester English Professor Penelope Geng and University of Minnesota French and Italian Professor Jennifer Row, explores conceptualizations of the human body via historical texts and contemporary lenses.  Last […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":913,"featured_media":2372,"parent":2351,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2353","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/913"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7399,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2353\/revisions\/7399"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/the-words\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}