Department of Religious Studies

This course will explore several issues under the broad topic of ‘death.’ We will study various cultural responses to personal death (i.e., one’s own death), the death of others, and the loss of other meaningful things. In this class, we will ask: how have people thought about death? How do people cope with personal death anxiety? How have various cultures dealt with the grief associated with losing someone or something significant? In thinking through these questions we will read the work of contemporary philosophers, anthropologists, and scholars of religious studies. This will involve learning about early China, futuristic Japan, and contemporary Europe and the United States. Students will explore the role of mourning across cultures, analyze various approaches to coping with anxieties associated with death, and think through the ways in which death might influence how people live.

GenEd A&H, CASE A&H, CAPP

• A&H
• CAPP
• What are CASE requirements?