AN 308 - Anthropology of Death and Dying

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
This course explores how different societies, including our own, conceptualize death and dying. Drawing on a range of ethnographies from diverse geographical settings (e.g. Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America), we will examine cross-cultural understandings of what constitutes death and how people mourn their dead. The topics we will cover include the cultural construction of death, mortuary rituals and funerary behavior, the effects of death on the social fabric, mourning and bereavement, and medical and ethical issues related to the end of life and its medicalization. Readings range from classical anthropological texts on death to works on cannibalism, suicide, and cryonics.

This seminar is designed in an experiential learning format, which means that students will receive many opportunities to interact with the subject of death and dying in an active, hands-on way. The course will ask students to make connections between the scholarly literature they read and their own empirical observations in the form of ethnographic research, interviews, and media analysis. We will host a variety of guest speakers who work in death care and go on at least one field trip. These activities will help students see that the knowledge they gain in the classroom has far-reaching applications outside of it. An in-class Death Café will enable students to reflect on and vocalize their own conceptions of death and dying, opening up a space for shared sentiments and letting students feel ownership over the learning process. (U)