L57 RelPol 248

Religion, Health, and Wellness in Modern America

Fall 2022, T/Th 11:30–12:50pm

This course considers how ideas about health and politics of the body intersect with religious and consumer practices in the modern wellness industry.

WUCRSL
  • headshot photo of Cody Musselman
    Cody Musselman

Biography

Religion, Health, and Wellness in Modern America will examine changing conceptions of health and wellness in America from the late nineteenth-century to the present. With media, artifacts, and literature drawn from the histories of medicine, religion, and capitalism, this class will cover the proliferation of alternative health regimens, the rise of the medical establishment, claims of divine healing, and the impact of market forces on wellness cultures. Course topics include the raced and gendered dynamics of care, socioeconomic status, technological innovation and media, the role of nature, health activism and radical self-care, and New Age spirituality and mental health. Special attention will be paid to how the politics of the body and its regulation intersect with religious and consumer practices in the modern wellness industry.