CHINA HISTORIAN, CHARLOTTE FURTH, TO DISCUSS HISTORICAL APPROACHES TO STUDYING THE HUMAN BODY AT BARD COLLEGE
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—On Tuesday, September 16, Bard in China will present a talk by University of Southern California (USC) historian Charlotte Furth. Her talk, "What Do We Think We are Doing When We Do History of the Body?," will examine approaches to studying the history of the human body. The event, supported by the Freeman Undergraduate Asian Studies Initiative, will take place at 5 p.m. in room 115 of the Olin Language Center. It is free and open to the public.
The history of the body is an exciting and relatively new area that feminists have done much to put on the map, according to Furth, a professor of history at USC. In her talk, she will draw on her work in writing the book, A Flourishing Yin: Gender in China's Medical History 960-1665 (UC Press 1999). She will explore some of the methodological and philosophical conundrums that emerge when scholars and others try to historicize the human body and explore corporeality through words and texts. The talk will be followed by remarks from Mary Coleman, assistant professor of philosophy at Bard, who will comment from the perspective of analytic philosophy on the issues raised in Furth's talk.
Furth is a renowned scholar of Chinese history and culture. She is the recipient of Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships and has a Ph.D. in history from Stanford University. She is the author or coauthor of several books, including Ting Wen-Chiang: Science and China's New Culture.
For further information about the talk or Bard in China, call 845-758-7388 or e-mail [email protected].