3.00 Credits
Respect for the dead has long been considered one of the most consistent features that distinguishes our particular species from others, although the forms and the meanings involved can vary enormously. This course explores the range and significance of attitudes and behaviors that exhibit this extraordinary human practice. Readings will include examples from the intriguing archaeological findings in Upper Paleolithic burial sites to the elaborate memorial cults that produced such wonders as the pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal of India, and the colossal sculptures on Mount Rushmore, to the widely contrasting customs followed across the map of today's world. A number of influential theories advanced in anthropology and some other disciplines, associated with such thinkers as van Gennep, Ariens, Hertz, Pearson, Taylor, Vermeule, Huntingon, Bloch, Faust, and Mitford, that deal with funeral practices, mortuary rituals, cemetery design, and traditions of remembrance will be examined. Also, what appear to be contrary instances, that is, the disregard or the desecration of corpses will also receive prominent attention, with an emphasis on examples such as victims of genocide, natural catastrophe, or political violence. In addition, several topics related to death and memory that represent public controversy and/or popular fascination, such as cryonics, secondary burials, relics, vampires, organ transplants, war monuments, ghost celebrities, plastification, ecological burials, and do-it-yourself funerals, will also be discussed.