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Academic Year 2001/2002

Death and the Afterlife in World Cultures
RELI 280 FA
Crosslistings:
ANTH 280

Beliefs and practices concerning death and the afterlife vary considerably across cultures and illuminate many key (often unarticulated) values about society. They simultaneously celebrate life as they mourn death.. Death rituals may embody formal religious doctrines, or they may be in direct opposition to them. This course will explore the social and religious meanings of rituals of death, notions of the soul, sacred geographies of the other world, and the impact of secularization and science on the afterlife concept in the context of anthropological theories and rich case studies.

MAJOR READINGS

Santino: HALLOWEEN AND OTHER FESTIVALS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Block and Parry: DEATH AND THE REGENERATION OF LIFE Danforth: THE DEATH RITUALS OF RURAL GREECE Huntington & Metcalf: CELEBRATION OF DEATH: THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF MORTUARY RITUAL
Stannard: THE PURITAN WAY OF DEATH
Zaleski: OTHERWORLD JOURNEYS: ACCOUNTS OF NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES IN MEDIEVAL AND MODERN TIMES

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Three short writing assignments, mid-term and final papers.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course fulfills the "Religion in Society" departmental requirement for majors.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS RELI    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2002

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