Sophomore Seminar 222
Katheryn Doran, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Jinnie Garrett, Professor of Biology

Freaks

Course description

Course Syllabus (PDF)

 

The class conducted a survey of attitudes of randomly selected members of the class of '05.

Coney Island Sideshow

 A freak is an extreme of humanity. But what is considered to be a freak -- or normal -- has varied tremendously through history and across cultures. We investigated how being a normal human being has been conceptualized and defined from both philosophical and biological perspectives through the study of individuals and groups categorized as freaks, doing our best to undermine the common view that these categories are more natural than conventional, or depend in any simple way on basic natural facts.

Student Group Term Projects
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8

     

Background images obtained from the Division of Rare and Manuscript
Collections, Cornell University Library