RELI280

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RELI280

Death and the Afterlife in World Cultures RELI280 FA

Crosslistings: ANTH280

Fall 96 Availability (Last Updated on Thu Apr 17 05:01:13 EDT 1997 )

Section  Limit  Enrollment  Available
  01       16      0         16

Next Offered in 9798 FA

Beliefs and practices concerning death and the afterlife vary considerably across cultures, and illuminate many key (often unarticulated) values about society. Death rituals may embody formal religious doctrines, or they may be in direct opposition to them; they simultaneously celebrate life as they mourn death. 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: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: SBS RELI

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-10-1997

About the Photo:

Tollund man, who died by ritual hanging in the first century BC and whose body was preserved from a Danish peat bog.

Reference:

Daniel, Glyn. A SHORT HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY, London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1981

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