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ANSC 415

I. Course Title: Anthropology of Death

II. Course Number: ANSC 415

III. Credit Hours: 3 credits

IV. Prerequisites: ANSC 106, ANSC 301

V. Course Description: 

This course will introduce students to the tremendous diversity of cultural beliefs and practices surrounding that most final of events: death itself. Because the death of a human being is such a meaningful event in all cultures, the beliefs and practices surrounding death offer a rare and valuable window into understanding the living. The complex set of practices and beliefs surrounding death actually teach us far more about the living than the dead; collectively, we refer to these practices and beliefs as deathways. 

Note(s): Cultural and Behavorial Analysis designated course.

VI. Detailed Description of Content of the Course:

Course will cover the following topics: Anthropological Theories on the Significance and Meaning of Death; The Origins of Human Deathways Evidenced in Paleoanthropology; The Evolution of Human Deathways in Relation to Early Prehistoric Societies; The Diversity of Human Deathways Evidenced in Modern Cultural Contexts; The Diversity of Human Deathways Evidenced in the Archaeological Records of Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States; The Relationship Between Human Deathways and Lifeways

VI. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course:

The course will include a mixture of lecture, directed readings, discussion, and a student driven research project and presentation focused on a topic in in human deathways. This course will introduce students to the major theoretical perspectives on death and dying in anthropology and the diversity of human deathways found across both time and space. Students will be challenged to reflect upon their own deeply held beliefs about the nature of death and the relationship between the living and the dead.    

VII. Goals and Objectives of the Course:

This course is designated as A (Cultural or Behavioral Analysis) Area and fulfills the learning goal: To examine the context and interactions of culture(s) and/or behavior(s). Students will fulfill the learning outcomes in this area: describe behaviors, beliefs, cultures, social institutions, and/or environments and analyze the interactions of behaviors, beliefs, cultures, social institutions, and/or environments. 

This course may be applied to the REAL Studies Minor in Cultural/Behavior Analysis.

  1. Students will be conversant in several major theories around the anthropology of death. 
  2. Students will build the vocabulary and conceptual frameworks to be able to describe and discuss human deathways and mortuary practices.  
  3. Students will apply anthropological theories in order to understand what human deathways can teach us about the living. 
  4. Students will demonstrate, through assignments, exams, quizzes, and their own research project, a basic knowledge of the methods used to analyze human deathways.

VIII. Assessment Measures:

Learning outcomes in ANSC 415 will be assessed using assignments, tests/exams, quizzes, and a focused research project.

Review and Approval

August, 2020

August, 2021

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