Course aims:

the development of the students' historical background
familiarizing students with death studies issues
Respect for idea of tolerance

Course Entry Requirements:

nothing special

Course contents:

1. History (as a science) and Death

2. Death as an Object of Historical Research

3. Romanian Historiography on Death

4. The Death System

5. Philippe Ariès and His Model on the Evolution of Attitudes Toward Death

6. The Taboo of Death Today

7. The Dying Process and the Event of Death

8. The Medicalization of Death

9. Suicide, Capital Punishment

10. Cemeteries and Their Evolution

11. The Issue of Cremation

12. Secular Funerals

13. The American Way of Death

14. Representations of Death in Literature

Teaching methods:

Lecture, debate, presentation

Learning outcomes:

The aim of the course is the familizarization of the students with the death studies.

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

Oral exam 70%, essay 30%

Recommended reading:

Michel Vovelle, La Mort et Occident de 1300 à nos jours, Gallimard, Paris, 1983, 1-600.
Rotar Marius, Eternitate prin Cenusa, Institutul European, Iasi, 2011, 1-646.
Vladimir Jankelevitch, Tratat asupra mortii, Amarcord, Timisoara, 1999, 1-600.
Philippe Aries, Omul in fata mortii, Meridiane, Bucuresti, 1996, 1-700.
Douglas Davies, Death, Ritual and Belief, Continuum, New York, 2002, 1-300.
Tony Walter, The Revival of Death, Routledge, London, 1994, 1-400.