Students in this course investigate body modification across space and time by employing behavioral and social science perspectives on deviance, group and personal identity, and meaning making. Specific focus is paid to body modification as a form of ritual communication, the intersections of gender, race, and socioeconomic with body modification subcultures in the United States, professionalization and gendered work, and cross-cultural differences/similarities in body modification practice. Students in this class will be given a multidisciplinary vocabulary through which to analyze these and other questions over the course of the semester. Meets general education requirement for behavioral sciences. Prerequisites: Honors eligibility required.