ANTHROPOLOGY OF DEATH AND DYING ANTH 165B Spring Semester 2017

Instructor: Dr. Anita Hannig Email: [email protected] Course Hours: Tues & Fri, 12:30-1:50pm Course Location: Schwartz 103 Office Hours: Tues 2:00-4:00pm (or by appoint.) Office: Brown 209

Teaching Assistant: Sasha Martin Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Wed 2:00-3:00pm (or by appoint.) Office: Rabb 327

COURSE DESCRIPTION This course explores how different societies, including our own, conceptualize death and dying. Drawing on a range of ethnographies from diverse geographical settings (e.g. Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America), we will examine cross-cultural understandings of what constitutes death and how people mourn their dead. The topics we will cover include the cultural construction of death, mortuary rituals and funerary behavior, the effects of death on the social fabric, mourning and bereavement, and medical and ethical issues related to the end of life and its medicalization. Readings range from classical anthropological texts on death to works on cannibalism, suicide, and cryonics.

This seminar is designed in an experiential learning format, which means that students will receive many opportunities to interact with the subject of death and dying in an active, hands-on way. The course will ask students to make connections between the scholarly literature they read and their own empirical observations in the form of ethnographic research, interviews, and media analysis. We will host a variety of guest speakers who are experts in home and commercial death care and go on at least one field trip. These activities will help students see that the knowledge they gain in the classroom has far-reaching applications outside of it. An in-class Death Café will enable students to reflect on and vocalize their own conceptions of death and dying, opening up a space for shared sentiments and letting students feel ownership over the learning process.

LEARNING GOALS This course will enable students to:  Learn about the range of ways persons and societies think about death and dying in a divers ity of societies  Gain knowledge of the historical development of major theories in the anthropological stud y of death and of the intersections among anthropological, medical, and religious approach es to death  Develop and enhance critical/analytical thinking, reading, and writing skills  Develop skills in interviewing and/or participant observation research  Hone skills in in-class speaking and collaborative discussion

READINGS The following readings are required texts available for purchase at the Brandeis University bookstore (or another provider of your choice). The books will also be available through the library reserves. All other readings will be available on LATTE.

1  Conklin, Beth. 2001. Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.  Desjarlais, Robert. 2016. Subject to Death: Life and Loss in a Buddhist World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.  Gawande, Atul. 2015. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. New York: Penguin Books. (another publisher is also fine)

Success in this four-credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class. Readings range between 100-140 pages per week.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS & EVALUATION I. Class Participation (25%) This course will be run as a discussion-based seminar, which means that it relies strongly on your informed and active participation, which, in turn, hinges on your completion of the readings prior to each class. We will engage in lots of group work, exercises in pairs, and in-class debates to work through the readings together. In trying to create an academically productive space where everyone feels comfortable speaking up, I will encourage you to listen and respond to each other carefully and with generosity. During class, I will assess the quality of your contributions over their quantity. If you are speaking more than two or three times in a given class session, please hold back to give others room to speak. As we are learning to critically engage these texts together, I expect each of you to come to class having read and thought about the assigned readings and to be able to make a meaningful contribution to our collective conversation. I will sometimes call on students to elicit a variety of viewpoints. Please bring hard copies of the assigned readings with you to class (unless you are using a tablet).

II. Out-of-class Assignments (30%) You will be assigned three substantial experiential-learning assignments that will take you out of the classroom and allow you to apply what you have learned. These assignments include ethnographic observation, textual and media analysis, and interviews. You will be able to pick between two choices for each of these assignments (see the syllabus below for details) and are expected to produce an 800-word reflection for each assignment.

III. Reading Responses (10%) Over the course of the semester, you will submit two reading reflections on two of the three major books assigned during the semester. The reflections will give you the chance to process the reading more deeply than you might otherwise and will allow us to see what larger points you are taking away. Each response should be 350 words or less. Your reflections should substantially and thoughtfully address the material for the day. You will decide what to focus your essay on. The essay must have a thesis, evidence (consisting largely of quotes and concrete examples from the reading), and analysis. Note that we are expecting a serious, organized, rigorous short essay (and not merely a rambling, sloppy “response paper”), with thesis and motive, evidence, analysis, structure, and effective writing style.

The assignments will be graded on a check plus, check, and check minus scale. They are due on LATTE at 9 am the morning of class. If you post them later than that, your grade will be reduced by one point (for instance, from a check to a check minus). For both reflections, you are free to

2 decide for which day you would like to submit a reflection (please check the calendar carefully), as long as the reflection deals explicitly with the chapters assigned for the class that day.

IV. Final Paper (35%) In part, this course is geared toward helping you develop your skills in critical thinking, analysis, and writing. Over the course of the semester, you will design and execute an idea for a final paper between 9-10 pages in length (double-spaced, Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins). Students who wish to may incorporate fieldwork and/or interviewing into their final paper (fieldwork and interviews are optional). Each paper must make careful use of at least three course readings in addition to a minimum of two outside academic readings. You will be asked to hand in a final paper proposal on 3/17 by noon. The proposal should consist of a preliminary title, a 200-word abstract, an explanation of your methods, and a preliminary bibliography.

All essays must be submitted on the dates and times indicated on the schedule below. If you submit your paper late, we will deduct a third of a letter grade for every day (or fraction of a day) past the deadline. I will only grant an extension for a paper under extraordinary circumstances and if you have approached me at least 24 hours before the due date.

GRADUATE STUDENTS Graduate students will complete all the same assignments as undergraduates, with the exception of a longer final paper (11-12 pages).

ATTENDANCE In order to succeed in the course, your timely presence in the classroom is obligatory. If you are consistently late, your participation grade will take a toll. If, for any reason, you are unable to attend class on a given day, please contact the TA in advance to request an excused absence (otherwise your absence will count as unexcused). Two or more unexcused absences per semester will lower your participation grade by one third of a letter grade. Four or more unexcused absences will lower your participation grade by two thirds of a letter grade. Please keep the channels of communication open with us, so that we can work with you in case of unexpected occurrences that may force you to be absent from class for longer periods of time.

COMPUTER AND CELL PHONE USE In order to focus your full attention on the class and on each other, laptops are not allowed durin g class time. Flat tablets (such as Ipads) are an exception, but may be used only to pull up the rea dings and not for typing. The use of cell phones is of course prohibited.

DISABILITIES If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to ha ve a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please come and see me.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity and plagiarism (see http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/ai). Faculty may refer any suspected instances of alleged dishonesty to the Office of Student Development and Conduct. Instances of academic dishonesty may result in sanctions, including but not limited to failing grades being issued, educational programs, and other consequences.

3 SCHEDULE OF READINGS

Death in Anthropology Week One 1/17 (Tues) Introduction to the course

1/20 (Fri) Fabian, Johannes. 2004. “How Others Die: Reflections on the Anthropology of Death.” In Death, Mourning, and Burial, Antonius C. G. M. Robben, ed. New York: Blackwell. [49-61]

Ariès, Philippe. 2004. “The Hour of Our Death.” In Death, Mourning, and Burial, Antonius C. G. M. Robben, ed. New York: Blackwell. [40-48]

Week Two 1/24 (Tues) Van Gennep, Arnold. 1909 [1960]. “The Classification of Rites” & “Funerals.” In The Rites of Passage. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [1-13; 146-165]

Bronislaw, Malinowski. 1925. “Death and the reintegration of the group.” In Magic, Science, and Religion. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. [47-53]

Kroeber, A. L. 1927. “Disposal of the Dead.” American Anthropologist 29(3):308-315.

1/27 (Fri) Lienhardt, Godfrey. 1961. “Burial Alive.” In Divinity and Experience: The Religion of the Dinka. Oxford: Clarendon. [298-319]

Bloch, Maurice. 1982. “Death, Women, and Power.” In Death and the Regeneration of Life, M. Bloch and J. Parry, eds. [211-230]

Week Three 1/31 (Tues) Class visit by Heather Massey, natural death care educator

Hagerty, Alexa. 2014. “Speak Softly to the Dead: The Uses of Enchantment in American Home Funerals.” Social Anthropology 22(4):428-442.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-surprising-satisfactions-of-a- home-funeral-53172008/?all

http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20150619/entertainmentlife/150619350

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/05/inside-a-home-funeral.html

Watch this short clip on home funerals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIBkKGPfJ9Q

2/3 (Fri) ***Assignment one due***

4 Class visit to Mt. Auburn Cemetery and Crematory

Assignment One Your first assignment will allow you to think more deeply about your own exposure to death, either in your own kin network or through the lens of fairy tales. Please choose between these following two assignments and incorporate at least two sources from the previous weeks into your assignment. Please limit your assignment to 800 words or less.

1) Trace the genealogy of death within your extended family with the help of a kinship chart. Try to find out the year and the mode of each relative’s death. In a reflection that accompanies the chart, reflect on what you found out from those who helped you construct your chart. What did you learn about how your relatives deal with death? Has this exercise changed how you relate to certain members of your family? What patterns did you see emerging? How difficult was it for you to attain this information?

OR

2) Examine two common fairy tales for children that involve a death theme (e.g., Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, the Three Little Pigs). Analyze these stories based on the following questions: Who dies? How and why did the death occur? Was the dead body shown? If there was a death ritual, what was it? Did the characters in the story express grief? Did the story mention the words “death,” “dies,” or “dead”? What would a child be likely to learn about death from hearing or reading these stories?

The Work of Mourning and Grief Week Four 2/7 (Tues) Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. 1964 [1922]. The Andaman Islanders. New York: Free Press. Excerpts. [106-114; 239-246]

Rosaldo, Renato. 2004. “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage.” In Death, Mourning, and Burial, Antonius C. G. M. Robben, ed. New York: Blackwell. [167-178]

Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1993. Death without Weeping: the Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil. Excerpt from Chapter Seven (“Two Feet Under and a Cardboard Coffin”). [268-278]

2/10 (Fri) Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 1993. Death without Weeping: the Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil. Chapter Eight (“(M)Other Love”). [340-399]

Week Five 2/14 (Tues) Stasch, Rupert. 2009. Society of Others: Kinship and Mourning in a West Papuan Place. Chapter Four [140-172] & Chapter Six [208-254].

2/17 (Fri) Conklin, Beth. 2001. Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Introduction [xv- xxxi]; Chapter 1 [3-23]; Chapter 2 [24-46]; Chapter 3 [47-62].

5 Week Six 2/21 (Tues) ***Winter Break***

2/24 (Fri) ***Winter Break***

Week Seven 2/28 (Tues) Conklin, Beth. 2001. Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Chapter 4 [65-86]; Chapter 5 [87-108]; Chapter 6 [111-131].

3/3 (Fri) Conklin, Beth. 2001. Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. Chapter 8 [157-177]; Chapter 11 [224-239].

Das, Veena. 2006. “Three Portraits of Grief and Mourning.” In Life and Words: Violence and the Descent into the Ordinary. [184-204]

Week Eight 3/7 (Tues) ***Assignment two due***

In-class Death Café run by Heather Massey

Assignment Two For this section, pick one of two activities to help you deconstruct the place of mourning and grief in US popular culture. Please reference at least two sources from our readings around mourning and grief in your assignment and limit your assignment to 800 words or less.

1) Visit a specialized card shop or the greeting card section of your local store and conduct an analysis of the sympathy/bereavement cards for sale. What clues can you find about the ways of grieving in North American culture? What patterns can you detect? What unspoken assumptions are contained in popular expressions of sympathy? How might these contrast with other attitudes toward mourning and grief we have read about?

OR

2) Review the weekend obituaries in the Boston Globe, The New York Times, or another local paper. What clues can you find about the way of grieving in North American culture? What role do religious, socio-economic, ethnic, gender-based, and age-based factors play in the obituaries? How might attitudes toward the dying contrast with other forms of mourning and grief we have read about?

Suicide Revisited 3/10 (Fri) Durkheim, Emile. 1951. “The Social Element of Suicide.” In Suicide: A Study in Sociology. [297-325]

Aviv, Rachel. 2015. “Letter from Belgium: The Death Treatment.” The New Yorker, June 22, 56-65.

6 Week Nine 3/14 (Tues) Garcia, Angela. 2010. The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession along the Rio Grande. Chapter Four (“Suicide as a Form of Life”) [150-182].

Livingston, Julie. 2009. “Suicide, Risk, and Investment in the Heart of the African Miracle.” Cultural Anthropology 24(4):652-680.

3/17 (Fri) ***Final paper proposals due***

In-class film: The Suicide Plan

Commemoration, Funerals, and the Space of Death Week Ten 3/21 (Tues) Durham, Deborah, and Frederick Klaits. 2002. “Funerals and the Public Space of Sentiment in Botswana.” Journal of Southern African Studies 28(4):777-795.

Durham, Deborah. 2002. “Love and Jealousy in the Space of Death.” Ethnos 67(2):155-180.

3/24 (Fri) Kaplan, Danny. 2008. “Commemorating a Suspended Death: Missing Soldiers and National Solidarity in Israel.” American Ethnologist 35(3):413-427.

Robben, Antonius C. G. M. 2000. “State Terror in the Netherworld: Disappearance and Reburial in Argentina.” In Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror. [91-113]

Week Eleven 3/28 (Tues) Desjarlais, Robert. 2016. Subject to Death: Life and Loss in a Buddhist World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Prelude [1-19]; Part I [21-75].

3/31 (Fri) Desjarlais, Robert. 2016. Subject to Death: Life and Loss in a Buddhist World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Part II [77-126]; Part III [127-152].

Class visit by Maric Kramer (social science librarian)

Week Twelve 4/4 (Tues) Desjarlais, Robert. 2016. Subject to Death: Life and Loss in a Buddhist World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Part V [209-243]; Postscript [245-266].

Listen to this radiolab episode: http://www.radiolab.org/story/91680-after-life/

4/7 (Fri) ***Assignment three due***

Class visit by Ruth Faas, green burial expert

7 Watch this Aljazeera video on “green goodbyes”: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes %20/earthrise/2013/07%20/2013722103321611250.html

Watch this TED talk by Jae Rhim Lee “My Mushroom Burial Suit”: https://www.ted.com/talks/jae_rhim_lee?language=en

Assignment Three For your third assignment, please pick one of the following topics. Reference at least two sources from our readings on suicide and commemoration in your assignment and limit your assignment to 800 words or less.

1) Discuss the portrayal of dead bodies by the US media (television news, movies, or popular shows). Are corpses ever depicted on the evening news? How is death dealt with in television shows and movies? What is the place of humor in these depictions? How do these portrayals articulate with or depart from the readings we have done?

OR

2) Interview an older person about their knowledge of funerary rituals, beliefs about life after death, and mourning customs in their cultural or religious group. Write up a reflection of this interview, discussing both the substantive content of the person’s responses in light of our readings as well as what you learned from doing this assignment.

Week Thirteen 4/11 (Tues) ***Spring Break***

4/14 (Fri) ***Spring Break***

Week Fourteen 4/18 (Tues) ***Spring Break***

Death in the House of Medicine 4/21 (Fri) Gawande, Atul. 2014. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Introduction, The Independent Self, Things Fall Apart, Dependence, Assistance [1-109].

Week Fifteen 4/25 (Tues) Gawande, Atul. 2014. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Letting Go, Hard Conversations, Courage, Epilogue [149-263].

4/28 (Fri) Romain, Tiffany. 2010. “Extreme Life Extension: Investing in Cryonics.” Medical Anthropology 29(2):194-215.

In-class film: Cryonics: Death in the Deep Freeze

Week Sixteen

8 5/2 (Tues) Listen to this episode of This American Life: “Graveyard Shift” by David Sedaris. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/319/And-the-Call-Was- Coming-from-the-Basement?act=4

Roach, Mary. 2003. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. New York: Norton. Chapter 3 “Life After Death.” [61-84].

*** Final paper due 5/5 (Friday) ***

9