Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: DEAD IN AMERICA:A CRASH COURSE ON THE POST-MORTEM FOR THE MORBIDLY CURIOUS (WILL RICE)

Department: College Courses

Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Seminar

Credit Hours: 1

Description: What happens to your body after death? Perhaps it’ll involve a funeral followed by a burial or cremation. Perhaps you’ll donate life-saving organs and tissues if denoted by your driver’s license. Perhaps you’ll even nourish a tree. Whatever happens, the fate of a post-mortem body is little talked about and often ignored until we’re faced with the death of someone we know. In the United States, traditional burial and cremation are the two most common options for body disposition. Recently, newer and more environmentally friendly options, such as water cremation and human composting, have been introduced. Yet these are rarely available or legal in only a few states. How should American society determine what happens to its dead? This course will discuss everything that may happen to a body after death, from decomposition to body disposition to organ donations. Students will learn the history and reasons behind the legalization and practice of body disposition methods. They will analyze what makes treatment of the dead body respectful or vilified in the United States. With no exams in this course, students will complete projects which include researching a funeral option from another culture and writing a letter to a state representative.