SHUM 6629

Last Updated

  • Schedule of Classes - January 31, 2019 7:14PM EST
  • Course Catalog - January 31, 2019 7:15PM EST

SHUM 6629
On Political Authority and the Power to Expose

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2018-2019.

This course focuses on the "exterior" as a political problem in critical theory, architectural theory, and cultural anthropology. The texts we will examine and elaborate on a political distinction between a human "interior" of "culture" or "reason" and a non-human "exterior" made of "natural" processes that are indifferent to human life. We will examine theoretical critiques of the old political notion that the authority of rulers should be like that of architects: leaders are recognized by their capacity to build interior spaces that nourish human modes of living. We will consider a range of cases in which political projects designed to build all-encompassing interiors have exposed humans and non-humans alike to the possibility of outright destruction. In some cases, authorities are recognized as such due to their perceived capacity to expose themselves and their followers to the possibility of annihilation.

When Offered Fall.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: 15 students. Not open to: undergraduates.

Comments Co-meets with ANTHR 4029/SHUM 4629.

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ANTHR 4029, ANTHR 7029, SHUM 4629

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16397 SHUM 6629   SEM 101

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