An examination of funerals, disposal, and the commemoration of
the dead in ancient Greece and Italy and the legacy of ancient
death in the modern era from Medieval to contemporary practices.
Emphasis is placed on death in the urban and suburban landscape
and the changing periphery of the dead.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: In addition to all undergraduate requirements, graduate students
will write a major research paper, present a class, and write an
annotated bibliography.
Athena Title
Death Antiquity and Its Legacy
Prerequisite
CLAS 1000 or CLAS 1000E or CLAS 1000H or CLAS 1010 or CLAS 1010E or CLAS 1010H or CLAS 1020 or CLAS 1020E or CLAS 1020H or CLAS 3000 or CLAS 3010 or CLAS(ANTH) 3015 or CLAS(ANTH) 3015E or CLAS 3030 or CLAS 3040 or CLAS3050 or permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to identify and describe funeral rituals, burial practices, and commemoration customs of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to explain the ways in which the treatment of the dead within ancient contexts has influenced or shaped funerary practices in the Medieval, Renaissance, Neoclassical, and modern periods.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to assess the localities of funerary practices within the larger urban and suburban landscapes.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to interpret and explain cultural negotiations of the topographical and metaphorical boundaries between the living and the dead.
Topical Outline
I. Funerary rituals in the Bronze Age (ritual, burial, commemoration)
II. Funerary rituals in the Ancient and Classical Greek world
III. Funerary rituals in the Roman Republic
IV. Funerary rituals in the Roman Empire
V. Early Christian funerary practices
VI. Legacy of ancient death: monuments and cemeteries
VII. Neoclassicism and the legacy of ancient death
VIII. Modern death: cremation movement and contemporary multicultural disposal and
commemorative rituals and practices
Institutional Competencies
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
Social Awareness & Responsibility
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.
