E103 COAS Topics Course : The Living & the Dead (3 cr.) - Campany MW
11:15-12:05 TV 251

Members of human societies, when they die, do not completely and
immediately disappear.  From the perspective of living persons, the dead
live on in various ways, and the living interact with them from the moment
of death onward.  Religious traditions have sought to characterize the
state of being of dead persons and have often provided ways for the living
to relate to them.  The main question to be asked in the course is: How
are the dead conceived of in religions and cultures?  Other questions
follow from this one, such as: What sorts of relations have the living
engaged in with the dead?  How are conceptions and images of the dead
related to other aspects of religions and cultures?  How have religions
and cultures expressed their views of the dead?  Is there an explanation
for the many similarities in the conception and treatment of dead humans
across cultures and religions?  What sorts of data, and what sorts of
approaches, would allow us to pursue these issues fruitfully?  This course
seeks answers to these and similar questions.  Readings are drawn from
many sources and assembled into one modest-sized course packet.  Visual
materials are incorporated.  Requirements center on short (2-3 page)
writing assignments.