Please take special note of the time and days this class meets. Our bodies are us, but they are not only us, because they are also the medium of our interface with the larger world.Thinking about what it means to be embodied is crucial for creative practitioners, activists, and cultural critics who want to know what makes people who they are, why our perspectives differ, and how we negotiate our interactions with others. Rather than settling on single answers to such complex questions, our primary goal will be to think critically about the multiple ways scholars and creative practitioners explore the issues these questions raise. Students will engage with theoretical texts, literature, performance, and media materials as well as participating in group exercises that employ performance-based techniques for deepening bodily intelligence. We will look at variances of embodiment in a multicultural world and we will cover controversial subjects related to the intersections of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, class, ability, sexuality, and gender identity/expression as a means to stimulate provocative thinking that will help to generate discussion. Together we will strive for an embodied as well as intellectual understanding of our theme.