Department of Social & Policy Sciences, Unit Catalogue 2011/12 |
|
 Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
| Period: |
Semester 1 |
| Assessment:
| ES 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
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| Description:
| Aims: To introduce students to some contemporary issues and questions in death and dying, and to show how sociology can shed light on these. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the module, students should be able to: * Will identify how dying, mourning and funeral rites vary over time and across societies. * Has a detailed knowledge of social aspects of dying, bereavement, and funerals. * Can critically evaluate historical and sociological explanations of the development of death practices in the modern era. * Can analyse funeral rites and other post-mortem procedures, mourning practices, afterlife beliefs, and media representations of death. Skills: * To think creatively and analytically; * To communicate an argument, orally and in writing * To evaluate others' arguments and research; * To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information; * To select appropriate and relevant information from a wide source and large body of knowledge; * To effectively and efficiently apply principles of sociological analysis; * To develop study & learning skills (note taking, avoiding plagiarism, using the library, gathering and using information, constructing a bibliography, referencing); * To develop time-management skills and to prioritise workloads. Content: Death poses significant organisational and ideological problems for any society, and yet there are significant differences in the way advanced capitalist societies solve these problems. How may these differences be explained? This module focuses on continuity and change in the British way of death, including care of the dying, funerals, mourning and afterlife beliefs, using comparative analysis with other societies in order to shed light on British practices. The module connects to the sociology of health & illness, the sociology of religion, and the sociology of the body, and sheds light on a number of current public concerns. 1) Historical and sociological frameworks 2) The denial of death thesis 3) The new craft of dying 4) Death in the media 5) Funeral rites: social, cultural, religious and economic influences 6) Funeral rites: insights from anthropology 7) Dead but not buried: problematic corpses and body parts 8) Mourning practices 9) Afterlife beliefs 10) Otherworld journeys: near death experiences, shamans and mediums. |
| Programme availability: |
SP30161 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
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