Comparative Study of Death
Anth 322/Relig 320

Syllabus

Instructor: Thomas W. Murphy
Email: tmurphy@edcc.edu or twmurphy@u.washington.edu
Telephone: 425-640-1076
Office: 409 DEN
Coffee Clutch: M 8:00-9:00 @ BLM Cafe
Casual Lunch: W 11:30-12:30 @ BLM Cafe
Additional Office Hours: By appointment

Course Content

The objective of this course is to examine cultural conceptions of death in a comparative perspective. We want to consider the variety of ways that humans understand, confront, and deal with death. An emphasis on social relations, cultural meanings, and participatory learning characterizes the approach in this course.

Class Meetings and Student Responsibilities

As a full term summer course we are scheduled to meet MW 9:10-11:20 in BLM 203. Meetings on Mondays generally consist of lectures and videos. Wednesdays generally consist of in-class participatory activities and discussions. An extra hour outside of class each week is dedicated to small group activities. Throughout the course students get an opportunity to complete a variety of analytical and participatory activities oriented around engaging in and understanding a selection of different cultural approaches to death and dying.

Each student is individually responsible for contributing to an oral, participatory, and written portion of each of six assignments. Each of the six assignments will be worth 15% of the final grade. The final 10% of the grade will be based upon self and peer evaluations of contributions to successful group interaction.

All students will participate in a small group which is to meet in lieu of a fifth hour of class. Each small group will share and read each other's essay drafts or work collectively on group assignments. At the end of the course each student will get the opportunity to fill out a survey evaluating their own and other group members' contributions to successful cooperative interaction.

Textbooks

Colleen McDannell & Bernhard Lang. 1988. Heaven: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Maureen G. Kovacs. Trans. 1989. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Raymond O. Faulkner. Trans. 1985. Rev. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Francesca Fremantle and Chogyam Trungpa. 2000. The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Boston: Shambhala Classics.
Dennis Tedlock. Trans. 1996. Popol Vuh. New York: Touchstone.
Carol Lynn Pearson. 1995. Good-bye, I Love You. Carson City, NV: Gold Leaf Press.

Reading and Lecture Schedule

Week One (June 18 & 20)

Lecture Topics: Self and Other & Science and Blank Pages
Reading: McDannell & Lang. Heaven: A History. Ch. 1-4.
Team Activity: In Our Own Image?
Browsing:
Robert Alun Jones, The Durkheim Pages.
John Hamlin, EMILE DURKHEIM: Development of Sociological Theory
Maria Elena Rowell, The Freud Page
Marc Fonda, Sigmund Freud on the Web
Week Two (June 25 & 27)
Topic: Commodity Fetishism
Reading: McDannell & Lang. Heaven: A History. Ch. 5-8.
Browsing:
Michael Kearl, "Immortality Capitalism Style."
Marx's Theory of Commodity Fetishism
Reading Guide to Marx, 'Commodity Fetishism'
Commodity Fetishism and Commodity Enchantment
Egyptian Commodity Fetishism and Victorian Imperialists
Avery Gordon, Ghostly Matters


Week Three (July 2)

Reading: McDannell & Lang. Heaven: A History. Ch. 9-10.
Assignment: Analytical Essay
Browsing:
Autopsy Screenwriter's Guide
Week Four (July 9 & 11)
Topic: Ancient Quests for Immortality
Reading: Kovacs. Epic of Gilgamesh. All.
Assignment: Creative Writing Exercise
Browsing:
Creighton University, "The Epic of Gilgamesh (Akkadian, ca. 2500-1500 B.C.)."
Arthur A. Brown, "Storytelling, the Meaning of Life, and The Epic of Gilgamesh."
Christopher B. Siren, "The Assyro-Babylonian Mythology FAQ."
Richard Hooker, "Mesopotamia."
Archaeology and the Hebrew Scriptures
A Possible Source of Noah's Flood
Comparison of Babylonian and Hebrew Flood Stories


Week Five (July 16 & 18)

Topic: Mummies and Pyramids & Ancient Egyptian Views of Afterlife
Reading: Faulkner. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. All.
Assignment: Collective Construction of Funeral Papyrus
Browsing:
Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Book of the Dead
The University of Memphis Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology
Guardian's Egypt, Virtual Tours of Egypt.
Ancient Egyptian Culture Exhibit
Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Papyrus of Ani, Translated by Neil Parker.
Secrets of the Pharaohs
Cyber Mummy


Week Six (July 23 & 25)

Topic: Native American Map Making & Conceptual Maps
Reading: Tedlock: Popol Vuh. Intro., Parts 1-2.
Browsing:
Justin Kerr collection
Stevan Davies, "Maya Art Pages."
Arte Maya Tz'utuhil.
Michiel Berger, "The Maya Astronomy Page"
Other Cultures: Hero Twins
Popol Vuh: A Creation Story
David R. Hixson, Links to great photography, 3D and Virtual Tours of Archaeological sites in Mesoamerica.
Barbara A. McKenzie, Mayaruins.com.
Museo Popol Vuh
Maya World Studies Center.
Ivan Van Laningham, Mayan Calendar Tools.


Week Seven (July 30 & Aug. 1)

Topic: Tricksters and Immortality
Reading: Tedlock: Popol Vuh. Intro., Parts 3-5.
Assignment: Conceptual Map of Xibalba

Week Eight (Aug. 6 & 8)

Topic: Tibetan Buddhism
Reading: Fremantle and Trungpa. The Tibetan Book of the Dead. All.
Assignment: Practice Preparations for the Between-State
Browsing:
University of Virginia Library, The Tibetan Book of the Dead Exhibit.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
John World Peace, Tibetan Book of the Dead.
Art of Tibet
Multimedia Buddhist Art Gallery
Robert Wicks, "The therapeutic psychology of 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead."
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Joseph Kerrick's Research.


Week Nine (Aug. 13 & 15)

Topic: HIV and Eternal Marriage
Reading: Pearson, Good-bye, I Love You. All.
Assignment: Essay
Browsing:
Mormon Scripture Studies
Hermetic Library
Ephrata Cloister
New Israelites
Lance Owens, Joseph Smith and Kabbalah: The Occult Connection
Oliver Cowdery
LDS-Mormon.com
The Official Internet Site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints