Semester:
Offered:
Prof. Kaya Williams
Thurs. 9:00 AM -11:45 AM
Tozzer 203
What is punishment, and what might attention to punitive practices teach us about the cultures in which they are used? Modern American culture is so saturated with punishment that it is difficult to know where to begin such an investigation. From childhood education to mass incarceration and from the crafting of financial futures to the training of horses and dogs, punishment appears everywhere to be both clearly visible on the surface and right at the heart of the matter. In many cases, punishment is the thread that connects allegedly disparate institutions and produces allegedly unforeseen forms of violence. This course seeks to follow that thread: asking first after punishment’s long history in Western culture and then after its multitudes of present uses and effects.
Undergraduate and Graduate students are welcome to enroll.