Course introduction:  Introduction to the concept of the body as text, to ideas concerning the nature and projection of power, and to the relationship between theories of power and the realities of physical abuse.
Assignments:
--Foucault and Scarry

Second Week

Writing the body:  pain as punishment and torture as language.
Assignment:
--Kafka
CHOOSE HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION TO ATTEND AND REPORT ON

Third and Fourth Weeks

The story of torture in the western world:  history, philosophy, law, and literature.
Assignments:
--Peters and short selections from Medieval and Renaissance literature.
Week Three:  Library Instruction Workshop (9/13/99)
Week Three:  Meet with instructor to discuss possible research topics
Week Three:  Pizza and Video Night:  The Siege
Week Four:  RESEARCH PROJECT TOPIC CHOSEN
Week Four:  FIRST VIDEO ANALYSIS DUE

Fifth and Sixth Weeks

Twentieth century political torture:  the political colonization of the contemporary body.  Pain and political power, medieval spiritual models and modern military governments, junta as Ecclesia, and rape with an electrode. 
Assignments:
--Dorfman and Graziano
Week Five:  Pizza and Video Night:  Death and the Maiden
Week Six:  FIRST TAKE-HOME EXAM DUE
SIGN UP FOR ORGANIZATION REPORT SLOTS

Seventh and Eighth Weeks

Torture and the concentration camp.
Assignments:
--Solzhenitsyn and Wiesel
Week Seven:  Pizza and Video Night:  Sophie's Choice
Week Eight:  RESEARCH PROJECT ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
ORGANIZATION REPORTS DUE:  Oral reports given in class (2-3 per day for 6 class periods);  written reports due by 5:00 p.m. the same day.
CHOOSE A COUNTRY TO REPORT ON
 

Ninth and Tenth Weeks

Torture in slave narratives.
Assignments:
--Bell, Morrison (Beloved), and Styron (Nat Turner)
Week Nine:  Pizza and Video Night:  Beloved
Week Ten:  SEMINAR TRIP
Week Ten: SECOND VIDEO ANALYSIS DUE

Eleventh Week

Torture in war narratives.
Assignments:
--Coatzee and Lomax
Week Eleven:  Pizza and Video Night:  The Deer Hunter
Week Eleven:  RESEARCH PROJECT OUTLINE AND INTRODUCTORY PAGE DUE

Twelfth Week

Amnesty International survivor narratives of torture:  each student reports on a different country.
Assignments:
--AI national reports
HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS DUE:  Oral reports given in class (4-6 per day for 3 class periods);  written reports due by 5:00 p.m. the same day.

Thirteenth Week

Torture closer to home:  Rape and Domestic Violence
Assignments:
--Mastrosimone, McNulty, and Morrison (The Bluest Eye)
Week Thirteen:  Pizza and Video Night:  The Burning Bed
RESEARCH REPORTS DUE:  Oral reports given in class (2-3 per day for 6 class periods);  written reports due by 5:00 p.m. the last day of class.

Fourteenth Week

Too close for comfort:  Torture on campus.
Assignment:
--Sanday
RESEARCH REPORTS DUE:  Oral reports given in class (2-3 per day for 6 class periods)
RESEARCH PROJECTS DUE by 5:00 p.m. the last day of classes.

SECOND TAKE-HOME EXAM DUE DURING FINAL EXAM PERIOD