FYEC 139 - 140 - Missing: Loss, Separation, and Remembrance -

Ay, but to die, and to go we know not where,
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot,
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clot; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery flood, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbéd ice,
To be imprisoned in the viewless winds
And blow with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and in certain thought
Imagine howling-'tis too horrible!

William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

Death and dying are components of life and living that constitute a crisis for society, for groups, and for the individuals and, thus, engender cultural as well as personal responses. Each of us confronts, accepts, or denies death and/or dying as an individual, as a member of a group or groups, and as a member of society and global community. This course provides an overview of the study of death and dying covering the key issues and questions in the field. We look at the personal and social attitudes regarding death in our society as well as those of other cultures and periods of time. This course combines sociological, psychological, anthropological, historical, medical, literary, mythological and spiritual investigations into the subject of death, with coverage of death-related issues ranging from personal confrontations with mortality to the study of large-scale encounters with death through an examination of memory and civic dialogue as they create memorials and rebuild environments in the aftermath of mass violence and political trauma. Professor Beth Gill, Department of Sociology, and Professor Maria Scott, Department of English. Four hours each semester. [Area of Knowledge requirements met: one sociology course under the Social Sciences area and one literature course under the Arts & Literature area. Open to all students.]