The Many Faces of Death: Cross-cultural Perspectives (Per Course)

In this 6 week course we will explore a mysterious yet important part of our humanity. Since the earliest dawn of mankind we have strived to understand and define death. In this course we will begin by looking at the earliest documented evidence of an intentional human burial followed by rituals and customs of death as they are found around the world. There will be a special focus on the impact of plagues in history such as the Black Death and the pandemic of 1918. We will conclude the course by looking at one man's search for immortality and how ironically it led to his premature death. This topic is especially relevant as we have all faced the devastating events and impacts of our current pandemic. I hope you will find the course both interesting and meaningful and look forward to have you join the course!

Teacher's Bio: Dr. Anne Basham teaches social/cultural anthropology, human evolution, and the natural sciences. She received her M.Phil degree in social anthropology/museum studies from Cambridge University, UK and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership/Innovation from Arizona State University. For nearly six years she served as Education/Outreach coordinator for a university-based natural history museum. She has taught the anthropology course Death/Dying for the past several years and is one of her more popular courses. For over a decade Dr. Basham has developed enrichment and lifelong learning programs that promote curiosity to diverse audiences of all ages whether in the community, online or in the college classroom.
Style of Offering : Live online via Zoom for 1 hour
Max Number of Attendees: 10
Date and Time : 1/13/2021 4:00-5:00pm AZ time or Saturday at 2:00 1/16/2021
Signup Deadline: None