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The Secret Life of the Body 1 (UNIB10011)
Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
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About this subject
Contact information
Semester 1
Semester 2
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
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Ever thought about how we actually see, hear, taste, smell and touch? How do musicians, dancers, artists, athletes, martial artists and yoga practitioners do what they do? And how does this relate to findings and hidden secrets in scientific research about the body and the brain?
In an increasingly global and collaborative world the need to have a knowledge of the whole, the interconnections between disciplines, their languages and approaches, histories and cultural expressions, is essential to understanding 21st century problems and creating practical and innovative solutions.
This subject explores the intricate links and parallels between the arts, science, philosophy, architecture, mysticism, medicine (both western and eastern), law, and economics, through understandings of the human body. The VCA campus provides a unique classroom environment for this subject, with a teaching staff of working artists, academics and guest speakers, all experts in their fields.
Underpinning The Secret Life of the Body is recognition of the value of interdisciplinarity and the role it plays in understanding critical vocabularies and new areas of research. The focus on the exchange of ideas between students and teachers across the schools and campuses, shapes the range of issues that the human body presents to us, in all the ways that we experience it - intellectually, personally, kineaesthetically and in multi disciplinary forms.
Intended learning outcomes
The Secret Life of the Body aims to:
- introduce students to historical representations and interpretations of the body;
- familiarize students with a range of discipline-specific technical and theoretical terms by bringing them into plain English to facilitate communication;
- enrich student's vocabularies and to explore a range of assumptions within disciplines, eg: the "objectivity" of science verses the "subjectivity" of aesthetic judgement;
- provide the ground for new modes of understanding and representation of the body;
- integrate practice with theory through aligning studio/laboratory with lecture/tutorial based learning;
- contribute to and enrich current debate on the human body;
- engage students with culturally diverse practices and customs associated with the body;
Generic skills
At the completion of the Poetics of the Body subject students should be able to:
- exhibit a sound working knowledge of the role of the human body across its various discipline specific domains;
- demonstrate interpretive abilities across a range of academic disciplines;
- confidently communicate, both orally and in writing, opinions, ideas and observations with regard to theory and practice of the body, in group and individual situations;
- participate effectively as a team member in interdisciplinary projects with a shared focus;
- embody an informed respect for the principles, protocols, discipline and ethics of interdisciplinary scholarship and practice;
- demonstrate capacities for scholarly analysis and artistic imagination, creativity, transformation and interpretation;
- contribute to a range of disciplines as collaborators and leaders;
- contribute in an informed and considered manner to current scientific and ethical debates on the human body.
Last updated: 2 November 2024