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Ginetta Candelario, Sociology & Latin American Studies
Naomi Miller, English Language & Literature |
The biological exercise of motherhood relies on the female body and its ability and/or willingness to turn itself over to the tasks of gestation and birth, and to the post-partum sustenance of infants through lactation. It is a reproductive process that human societies have conferred with powerful meanings—even when the subjects are other mammals, such as rodents and primates that predominate in natural science studies of maternity. Motherhood includes the symbolic construction of maternity as a virtual archetype of natural beauty in its pure state. But the functions of motherhood in human societies are neither purely "natural" nor purely a thing of beauty. While motherhood can be deeply satisfying, it often comes at a high biological and personal cost, from the temporary stress upon the physiological system to permanent physical or psychological damage. Moreover, the labor of those we have come to call "mothers" extends well beyond biological caring for offspring. In the case of humans, this care can extend into adulthood and even encompass eldercare. Biological processes and costs are never purely or simply the product of "nature," but of history, society, and culture.
By taking an interdisciplinary approach to maternity, this project will juxtapose representations of actual and mythic mothers in different mediums, in different societies, and in different historical periods to contextualize the cultural undercurrents that produce both commonalities and differences. We expect to consider the symbolic meanings, as well as the practices and the institutions that have come to be associated with mothering, from the biological birth-giving process to the care of children, from infancy into adulthood. We might ask, for example what forms of signification have come to be inscribed in maternity, and to what extent are they based on relations of power and inequality? The word "parenting" implies gender-neutral caregiving. However, the biology of parenthood is inherently unequal. Does the language of gender neutrality serve to elide structures of inequality? If biological mothers give themselves over to the "making" of children in ways that the other parent has not, is gender neutrality a reasonable framework to employ in law and society? Should the physical and psychological costs of biological labor be somehow translated into social or economic value? If so, how might such values be assessed? To what extent does the labor of motherhood, along with the social imperatives and pressures to accept the role of mother, shape the trajectory of women’s lives, now and in the past, both here and elsewhere? In what ways have the dispositions, attitudes and work of various historical figures, writers, or artists been influenced by their role as mothers, or their refusal to accept such a role?
This project will investigate the spectrum of maternal roles and responsibilities, and the perceptions and outcomes of them. While it will encompass actual biological mothers, its explorations will also extend to a much wider range of mother figures and caregivers, and the complex issues associated with them. While the specific questions and issues explored will be determined by the interests of the participants, the project will identify and examine fundamental intellectual questions related to motherhood, its various forms, its functions in different societies, cultures, and times, and the functions it has served in various discourses, systems (e.g., biological, social, political, cultural), actions and interactions.
The wealth of questions raised by the issues of motherhood will be considered from a truly broad range of perspectives, thereby reflecting both positive and negative constructions of the caregiver. Bringing together different perspectives from a diverse cross-section of disciplines promises to provide a provocative series of discussions and a thorough and multifaceted investigation of this rich topic. We heartily welcome colleagues from a wide variety of disciplines and department to participate.
PROJECT SCHEDULE:
This project will meet every Monday 1:00-4:00 pm when classes are in session for the entire 2012-2013 academic year. Project sessions will begin with lunch.
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Nicholas Horton, Mathematics & Statistics
Barbara Brehm-Curtis, Exercise & Sport Studies |
Throughout history and in virtually every culture, people have sought ways to alter their bodies and their minds to achieve improved performance. Innovative training regimens and nutritional methods to enhance athletic performance in sports competitions are constantly in development. New drugs and pedagogical methods are regularly introduced to refine concentration and improve educational outcomes. Novel psychotherapeutic techniques and pharmaceutical interventions are continuously researched, tested, and prescribed in an effort to enable individuals to function more effectively in their daily lives.
The impulse to alter body or mind in pursuit of the improvement of some aspect of human life and functioning has existed for at least as long as history has been documented. Reports stretching back to antiquity describe treatments that could increase power and stamina for athletes and warriors. In the 1904 Olympics, marathon runners injected themselves with the poison strychnine in an effort to enhance their abilities. In more recent times, with record times continually being broken through improved performance, the press has been filled with reports of illicit doping to enhance athletes' performance in a wide range of sports.
The quest for "artificial" performance enhancement has not been limited to athletics. Societal competition within the cognitive domain has also motivated people to seek ways to strengthen mental function. For example, medications developed to address attention deficit disorder are increasingly used to improve productivity among students and scholars, a practice that raises fundamental questions not only about the ethics and efficacy of popularized repurposing of such treatments, but also about the indicators and measures of intellectual achievement and performance in academic and scientific settings. How effective are such performance-enhancing drugs and does their use constitute cheating? Should some existing performance enhancers, such as coffee (the world's most widely used psychoactive substance) be more widely regulated?
The altering of bodies and minds raises many important questions regarding tradeoffs between risk and reward. For example, pharmaceuticals are now regularly used to alter mental disposition, but who should decide when such alterations are needed or required? The affected individual? Medical institutions? Families? Judicial systems? What are the legal, philosophical and ethical issues at stake here? Issues of weight loss are similarly complex: what is the balance between the pursuit of health and longevity on one hand, and capitulating to arbitrary and culturally constructed aesthetic ideals on the other? Who should decide and how should such decisions get legislated and enacted?
In this semester-long project, we hope to apply diverse disciplinary perspectives to the investigation of efforts to alter minds and bodies in our society. We will consider the spectrum of practices meant to improve mental and physical health. We will also consider the incentives encouraging such practices, and the role of various members of society (e.g., medical professionals, corporate interests, educators, lawmakers, the media) in promoting, discouraging, or regulating various types of modifications. While the specific questions and issues explored will be determined by the interests of the participants, the overall goal of the project will be to identify and analyze fundamental intellectual questions related to the types of alterations that are and have been widely practiced, examining whether distinctions should be made (legally, morally and culturally) among them, and considering the types and nature of limits that have been imposed on them.
The practices and problems of various efforts to alter mind and body provide a rich store of intellectual questions to be addressed. These will be considered from a truly broad range of perspectives that includes the social, the historical, the economic, the cultural, and the psychological, as well as through the science of biochemistry, neuroscience and statistics. We heartily welcome to this project the participation of scholars from a wide range of fields and perspectives.
PROJECT SCHEDULE:
This project will meet every Thursday 4:00-7:00 pm when classes are in session during the Fall 2012 semester. Project sessions will finish with dinner.
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