Beauty is as a sensory experience that seems to privilege sight over other forms of perception. It is linked to taste, distinct from objective fact. There is a hierarchy between the active act of looking, enjoying beauty, and the passivity of being looked at and deemed beautiful. This 4-week online course engages critically with the theme of beauty, exploring it as a cultural phenomenon in past and present. With both gender an...
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Western philosophy covers beauty in the discipline of aesthetics, together with art. Concepts such as the link between beauty and moral goodness (Plato), laws of harmony (Aristotle), disinterested judgement (Kant) still reverberate in our understanding of beauty today. They all place pure manifestations of beauty above its immediately pleasing appearance in popular culture (what has later been called kitsch or camp) and they reveal patriarchal, racist and heteronormative prejudices, most clearly so in Descartes’ mind-body split (in the 17th century), where the mind is deemed “high” and the body “low,” the mind male and the body female. Crucially, there’s no place for the body in these traditional theories, a curious fact considering that the term “aesthetic” originally means “of or relating to sense perception” with no explicit reference to the eye.
What will we cover?
Starting in the 1970s, feminist artists brought the body into the picture. Carolee Schneemann, Hannah Wilke, Ana Mendieta and others used their own bodies as their medium, creating radical, sensuous examples of what critic Susan Sontag termed an “erotics of art.” Looking at the works, we’ll pose questions such as: Is the use of their own bodies liberating for women, or does it, ultimately, feed back into the objectification of female bodies to please male viewers? Do the boundaries between art and pornography become blurred when the content is sexually explicit? What if the artist presenting herself is conventionally beautiful? What, if not? Our guides will be examples from art criticism of the time, contemporary interpretations (e.g. Lauren Elkin’s book Art Monsters from 2023), psychological theories of embodiment and analyses of beauty’s supposed opposite, ugliness. We’ll also discuss controversial feminist views on beauty, including The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf or Camille Paglia’s Sexual Personae (both from 1990). In the final session, we’ll turn to the contemporary landscape. In our distinctively neoliberal - and some would argue post-feminist - moment, beauty pressures, despite feminist efforts, have intensified, facilitated by new technologies and by aggressive consumer capitalism. We have internalised the ancient philosophical dictum that what is beautiful is good and turned it into its late-capitalist interpretation that a beautiful body is a consumerist self.
What will I achieve? By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Have an understanding of the concept of beauty in Western thought • Analyse beauty critically as a tool of power, especially in its relation to sex and gender • Know some of the key texts and thinkers on beauty and have some knowledge of feminist body art
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
The course is for all levels. The topic of beauty is wide-ranging and suitable for those who are interested in culture, art, philosophy, critical theory and feminism.
Please be advised that some of the works we discuss contain nudity.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
The course will be delivered as an informal lecture/talk but there will plenty of scope for discussion and questions throughout. Reading suggestions will be provided for students who wish to deepen their learning.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
There is no need to bring anything to class apart from note-taking materials (pen and paper or electronic).
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Look for other Cultural Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.
Catherine Berger holds a PhD in the History of Art from University College London, where she also taught for many years. She has worked as a tutor at the University of Basel and as a researcher at the University of Zurich and taught in various other institutions, including adult education and a secondary school. She has worked as an editor, written for publications and regularly translates essays and book chapters in her areas of expertise. The analysis of the relationship of cultural production to its social conditions is at the core of her work. Her interests and methods reach across disciplinary boundaries, interweaving visual culture with philosophy, sociology, political and economic theory, linguistics, literature, musicology and psychology, often with a focus on feminism, gender and theories of the maternal. A passionate teacher, Catherine works hard to create inclusive, supportive, student-centred learning environments.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
product
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/beauty3058105Beautyhttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/paradoxes-present-HCC14-1024.jpg139139GBPInStock/Courses/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Cultural studies/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Cultural studies/Cultural studies/Courses/Online courses/Courses/vm/Contemporary Culture Courses in London22851177120120641731171712285117712011653<p>Beauty is as a sensory experience that seems to privilege sight over other forms of perception. It is linked to taste, distinct from objective fact. There is a hierarchy between the active act of looking, enjoying beauty, and the passivity of being looked at and deemed beautiful. This 4-week online course engages critically with the theme of beauty, exploring it as a cultural phenomenon in past and present. With both gender and sexuality playing a crucial role for the concept, we’ll investigate beauty’s relationship with power through a feminist lens.</p>003058096Beauty139139https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/category/paradoxes-present-HCC14-1024.jpgInStockEveningWedOnlineAvailable courses1 to 4 weeksWeekday2026-11-18T00:00:00+00:00Beginners, Some experience, Advanced, Suitable for allNov 2026Culture, history & humanitiesHCC23139139Beauty13990139Catherine Bergerbeauty/hcc23-2627<p>Beauty is as a sensory experience that seems to privilege sight over other forms of perception. It is linked to taste, distinct from objective fact. There is a hierarchy between the active act of looking, enjoying beauty, and the passivity of being looked at and deemed beautiful. This 4-week online course engages critically with the theme of beauty, exploring it as a cultural phenomenon in past and present. With both gender and sexuality playing a crucial role for the concept, we’ll investigate beauty’s relationship with power through a feminist lens.</p>0000-Available|2026-11-18 00:00:00<p>Western philosophy covers beauty in the discipline of aesthetics, together with art. Concepts such as the link between beauty and moral goodness (Plato), laws of harmony (Aristotle), disinterested judgement (Kant) still reverberate in our understanding of beauty today. They all place pure manifestations of beauty above its immediately pleasing appearance in popular culture (what has later been called kitsch or camp) and they reveal patriarchal, racist and heteronormative prejudices, most clearly so in Descartes’ mind-body split (in the 17th century), where the mind is deemed “high” and the body “low,” the mind male and the body female. Crucially, there’s no place for the body in these traditional theories, a curious fact considering that the term “aesthetic” originally means “of or relating to sense perception” with no explicit reference to the eye.</p><p>Beauty is as a sensory experience that seems to privilege sight over other forms of perception. It is linked to taste, distinct from objective fact. There is a hierarchy between the active act of looking, enjoying beauty, and the passivity of being looked at and deemed beautiful. This 4-week online course engages critically with the theme of beauty, exploring it as a cultural phenomenon in past and present. With both gender and sexuality playing a crucial role for the concept, we’ll investigate beauty’s relationship with power through a feminist lens.</p><p>Starting in the 1970s, feminist artists brought the body into the picture. Carolee Schneemann, Hannah Wilke, Ana Mendieta and others used their own bodies as their medium, creating radical, sensuous examples of what critic Susan Sontag termed an “erotics of art.” Looking at the works, we’ll pose questions such as: Is the use of their own bodies liberating for women, or does it, ultimately, feed back into the objectification of female bodies to please male viewers? Do the boundaries between art and pornography become blurred when the content is sexually explicit? What if the artist presenting herself is conventionally beautiful? What, if not?<br>Our guides will be examples from art criticism of the time, contemporary interpretations (e.g. Lauren Elkin’s book Art Monsters from 2023), psychological theories of embodiment and analyses of beauty’s supposed opposite, ugliness. We’ll also discuss controversial feminist views on beauty, including The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf or Camille Paglia’s Sexual Personae (both from 1990).<br>In the final session, we’ll turn to the contemporary landscape. In our distinctively neoliberal - and some would argue post-feminist - moment, beauty pressures, despite feminist efforts, have intensified, facilitated by new technologies and by aggressive consumer capitalism. We have internalised the ancient philosophical dictum that what is beautiful is good and turned it into its late-capitalist interpretation that a beautiful body is a consumerist self.<br> </p><p>• Have an understanding of the concept of beauty in Western thought <br>• Analyse beauty critically as a tool of power, especially in its relation to sex and gender <br>• Know some of the key texts and thinkers on beauty and have some knowledge of feminist body art <br> </p><p>The course is for all levels. The topic of beauty is wide-ranging and suitable for those who are interested in culture, art, philosophy, critical theory and feminism.</p><p>Please be advised that some of the works we discuss contain nudity. </p><p>The course will be delivered as an informal lecture/talk but there will plenty of scope for discussion and questions throughout. Reading suggestions will be provided for students who wish to deepen their learning. </p><p>There is no need to bring anything to class apart from note-taking materials (pen and paper or electronic). </p><p>Look for other Cultural Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>Cultural studiesCultural studiesvirtual13913990HCC23NONEWed18/11/26 - 09/12/2618:30 - 20:3018:3020:304 sessions (over 4 weeks)41 to 4 weeksWeekdayOnlineOnlineCatherine BergerBeginners, Some experience, Advanced, Suitable for allAvailable courses2026-11-18T00:00:00+00:00EveningNov 2026Culture, history & humanities139139Beautybeauty/hcc23-2627<p>Beauty is as a sensory experience that seems to privilege sight over other forms of perception. It is linked to taste, distinct from objective fact. There is a hierarchy between the active act of looking, enjoying beauty, and the passivity of being looked at and deemed beautiful. This 4-week online course engages critically with the theme of beauty, exploring it as a cultural phenomenon in past and present. With both gender and sexuality playing a crucial role for the concept, we’ll investigate beauty’s relationship with power through a feminist lens.</p>0000-Available|2026-11-18 00:00:00<p>Western philosophy covers beauty in the discipline of aesthetics, together with art. Concepts such as the link between beauty and moral goodness (Plato), laws of harmony (Aristotle), disinterested judgement (Kant) still reverberate in our understanding of beauty today. They all place pure manifestations of beauty above its immediately pleasing appearance in popular culture (what has later been called kitsch or camp) and they reveal patriarchal, racist and heteronormative prejudices, most clearly so in Descartes’ mind-body split (in the 17th century), where the mind is deemed “high” and the body “low,” the mind male and the body female. Crucially, there’s no place for the body in these traditional theories, a curious fact considering that the term “aesthetic” originally means “of or relating to sense perception” with no explicit reference to the eye.</p><p>Beauty is as a sensory experience that seems to privilege sight over other forms of perception. It is linked to taste, distinct from objective fact. There is a hierarchy between the active act of looking, enjoying beauty, and the passivity of being looked at and deemed beautiful. This 4-week online course engages critically with the theme of beauty, exploring it as a cultural phenomenon in past and present. With both gender and sexuality playing a crucial role for the concept, we’ll investigate beauty’s relationship with power through a feminist lens.</p><p>Starting in the 1970s, feminist artists brought the body into the picture. Carolee Schneemann, Hannah Wilke, Ana Mendieta and others used their own bodies as their medium, creating radical, sensuous examples of what critic Susan Sontag termed an “erotics of art.” Looking at the works, we’ll pose questions such as: Is the use of their own bodies liberating for women, or does it, ultimately, feed back into the objectification of female bodies to please male viewers? Do the boundaries between art and pornography become blurred when the content is sexually explicit? What if the artist presenting herself is conventionally beautiful? What, if not?<br>Our guides will be examples from art criticism of the time, contemporary interpretations (e.g. Lauren Elkin’s book Art Monsters from 2023), psychological theories of embodiment and analyses of beauty’s supposed opposite, ugliness. We’ll also discuss controversial feminist views on beauty, including The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf or Camille Paglia’s Sexual Personae (both from 1990).<br>In the final session, we’ll turn to the contemporary landscape. In our distinctively neoliberal - and some would argue post-feminist - moment, beauty pressures, despite feminist efforts, have intensified, facilitated by new technologies and by aggressive consumer capitalism. We have internalised the ancient philosophical dictum that what is beautiful is good and turned it into its late-capitalist interpretation that a beautiful body is a consumerist self.<br> </p><p>• Have an understanding of the concept of beauty in Western thought <br>• Analyse beauty critically as a tool of power, especially in its relation to sex and gender <br>• Know some of the key texts and thinkers on beauty and have some knowledge of feminist body art <br> </p><p>The course is for all levels. The topic of beauty is wide-ranging and suitable for those who are interested in culture, art, philosophy, critical theory and feminism.</p><p>Please be advised that some of the works we discuss contain nudity. </p><p>The course will be delivered as an informal lecture/talk but there will plenty of scope for discussion and questions throughout. Reading suggestions will be provided for students who wish to deepen their learning. </p><p>There is no need to bring anything to class apart from note-taking materials (pen and paper or electronic). </p><p>Look for other Cultural Studies courses under History Culture and Writing/Film Studies at www.citylit.ac.uk.</p>Cultural studiesCultural studiesconfigurable
20641201Cultural studieshttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/humanities/culture/culture-11/2/285/1177/1201/2064/Courses/Culture, history & humanities/Cultural studies/Cultural studies
