Description:
| Aims:
* To introduce students to understandings of the place of death in some of the world's major religions;
* To make students aware that religious understandings of death vary between societies and across time;
* To recognise the significance of religious beliefs in terms of funeral practice;
* To understand the nature of secularisation and its significance in terms of funeral practice;
* To understand the nature of spirituality in contemporary Western societies.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the unit students will be able to:
* Describe and reflect on a range of religious and secular beliefs that impact on everyday death practices;
* Describe and reflect on the social factors that influence contemporary thinking around spirituality and secularisation;
* Relate theories of spirituality to funeral practice.
Skills:
* To think creatively and analytically;
* To assess arguments and research;
* To synthesise information from a number of sources;
* To reflect on practice;
* To relate Christianity and other religions and forms of spirituality to practice;
* To reflect on how working with issues around mortality impacts on our sense of self identity and the way we view others.
Content:
* The place of death in major world religions;
* Definitions of spirituality;
* Understanding secularisation;
* Afterlife beliefs and society;
* The sacredness of funeral ritual and ceremony;
* The importance of memorialisation in destiny beliefs.
Teaching and learning strategies will use subject specific or work based examples where appropriate.
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