Death in America

Catalog description

This course examines death in America from before Columbus until today. Through lectures, movies, music, slides, and the World Wide Web, we will investigate how people have thought about death throughout American history. Because people have always been fascinated with death, they left behind numerous sources that allow us access to their innermost thoughts: diaries, letters, gravestones, songs and artwork. We will examine these sources to learn how attitudes towards death and dying have changed over the last several centuries. Topics include Indian burial practices, Puritan death, the problem of infant mortality, the meaning of death in the Civil War, capital punishment today, and physician-assisted suicide. USH