Religious Studies 12: Religious Approaches to Death

Instructor: Evan Berry (berry@umail.ucsb.edu)

Office hours: Tuesday 2:00-3:00 and Thursday 2:00-3:00 (HSSB 3057)

Class meets: MTWRF 3:30-4:50 (Building 387 Room 104)

Syllabus: http://www.religion.ucsb.edu/syllabuses

Online Readings: http://www.eres.ucsb.edu

Course Objectives:

The primary goal of this course is to help you to think critically and be well informed about religion in the modern world. To such and end, this course has three basic foci: 1) an introduction to religious studies; 2) a broad survey of mythological and ritual treatments of death across cultures; and 3) an analysis of religious approaches to death in the modern era. This final area of inquiry forms the core component for our study, exploring the tension between tradition and innovation that animates contemporary religious life. This course demands that you keep an open mind about a wide variety of religious beliefs and behaviors, though open-mindedness about religion does not mean that we intend to study religion uncritically. Only by suspending our judgment can we learn to think empathetically about religion, and only through empathy can we come to understand the complexity and variety of religions.

Course Requirements:

In addition to attendance and class participation two exams and two assignments are required. The midterm and final exams include material from both the readings and lectures, and please take note that I may occasionally use pop quizzes to ensure that you are doing the reading.

The first assignment is a media response paper, which requires that you find an article that directly pertains to the topics covered in this course. Any newspaper or (reputable) online journalism article about funerals, suicide, euthanasia, cremation, eco-burial, military or government memorializations, the afterlife, etcetera is appropriate. Your assignment is to write a two-page analysis of the article’s content putting to use the tools and ideas you’ve gained in this course. Specifically, this assignment provides you an opportunity to consider how the media functions in propagating particular notions of death and dying. Your attentive reading of the article you select should ask: What is being said about the relationship of death and morality? How does the article portray the relationship between religious approaches to death and other social forces (e.g. economics, politics, or medicine)? The purpose of this exercise is not to simply summarize; rather, this paper should analyze and explain the arguments being made in your chosen media.

The second assignment requires that you conduct an interview with a respected elder, clergy member, or another person familiar with death, its meaning and the social practices surrounding it. Please do not interview friends or family unfamiliar with religious issues or considerations of human mortality. Your interview should establish the interviewee’s religious background, experiences with death and dying, personal beliefs about why we die and what happens after death, and their view of what should be done when they themselves die. After thoroughly describing your interviewee’s answers, you should conclude by comparing their answers with what you have learned in class. For instance, does your interviewee hold orthodox or unorthodox views? What are the similarities and difference between their practices and beliefs and others in their same religious tradition? Are the differences important or marginal? This paper should be 4-5 pages in length, and will be graded based on how thoroughly you cover the required topics and in terms of the writing quality. If you would like help improving the quality of your writing, you are welcome to take advantage of my office hours. Proofreading and tutoring are also available through the Campus Learning Assistance Services (http://www.clas.ucsb.edu).

Grading System:

15% Attendance

15% Media Response

15% Midterm Exam

20% Final Exam

25% Term Paper

Required Texts:

The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

Western Attitudes Toward Death by Phillipe Aries

Online Readings: http://www.eres.ucsb.edu

Schedule

Monday, June 25^th

• Introduction, Course Overview
• In class reading: George Orwell’s Politics and the English Language

Tuesday, June 26^th

• Ninian Smart, “Introduction,” Dimensions of the Sacred, pp. 1-11 (online)

Wednesday, June 27^th

• David Chidester, “Chapter One,” Patterns of Transcendence, pp. 1-17 (online)

Thursday, June 28^th

• David Chidester, “Chapter One,” Patterns of Transcendence, pp. 18-36 (online)

Friday, June 29^th

• Mircea Eliade, “Mythologies of Death,” Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions, pp. 32-46 (online)

Monday, July 2^nd

• Douglas Davies, “Forms of Disposal,” Death and Religion in a Changing World, pp. 228-245 (online)

Tuesday, July 3^rd

• Gary Laderman, “Introduction,” The Sacred Remains, pp. 1-11 (online)

Wednesday, July 4^th

• Genesis 1-3
• Romans 5-6
• Matthew 26-28

Thursday, July 5^th

• Harold der Blache and Colin Parkes, “Christianity,” Death and Bereavement Across Cultures, pp. 131-146 (online)

Friday, July 6^th

• Ellen Levine, “Jewish Views and Customs on Death,” Death and Bereavement Across Cultures, pp. 98-130 (online)

Monday, July 9^th

• Juan Campo, “Between the Proscribed and the Performed,” Death and Religion in a Changing World pp. 147-172 (online)

Tuesday, July 10^th

• Mark Elmore, “Living With the Dead,” Death and Religion in a Changing World pp. 23-43 (online)

Wednesday, July 11^th

• Uwe Geilen, “A Death on the Roof of the World,” Death and Bereavement Across Cultures, pp. 73-97 (online)

Thursday, July 12^th

• Review Session

Friday, July 13^th

• Midterm Exam

Monday, July 16^th

• Phillipe Aries, “Tamed Death,” Modern Attitudes Toward Death, pp. 1-25

Tuesday, July 17^th

• Phillipe Aries, “One’s Own Death,” Modern Attitudes Toward Death, pp. 27-52

Wednesday, July 18^th

• Phillipe Aries, “Thy Death,” Modern Attitudes Toward Death, pp. 55-82

Thursday, July 19^th

• Phillipe Aries, “Forbidden Death,” Modern Attitudes Toward Death, pp. 85-107

Friday, July 20^th

• Media Response Assignment Due

Monday, July 23^rd

• Leo Tolstoy, “Introduction & Chapters 1-4,” The Death of Ivan Ilych, pp. 1-72

Tuesday, July 24^th

• Leo Tolstoy, “Chapters 2-12,” The Death of Ivan Ilych, pp. 73-112

Wednesday, July 25^th

• Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, “Attitudes Toward Death and Dying,” On Death and Dying pp. 25-50 (online)

Thursday, July 26^th

• Shai Levi, “The Ethics of the Deathbed,” The Modern Art of Dying, pp. 1-13 (online)

Friday, July 27^th

• Gary Laderman, “The Business of Death in the Late 19^th Century,” The Sacred Remains, pp. 164-175 (online)

Monday, July 30^th

• Robert Pogue Harrison, “The Names of the Dead,” Dominion of the Dead, pp. 124-141 (online)

Wednesday, August 1^st

• Douglas Davies, “Ecology, Death and Hope,” A Brief History of Death, pp. 68-88 (online)

Thursday, August 2^nd

• Review Session
• Term Papers Due

Friday, August 3^rd

• Final Exam