DEATH AND DYING IN AMERICA

Transcription

1 DEATH AND DYING IN AMERICA Fall 2006 Dr. Karen R. Stubaus American Studies 050:301:02 Topics in American Studies Wednesdays 5:35 8:35 p.m. Ruth Adams Building 018 IT IS INDEED IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE OUR OWN DEATH...AND WHENEVER WE ATTEMPT TO DO SO WE CAN PERCEIVE THAT WE ARE IN FACT STILL PRESENT AS SPECTATORS. HENCE...AT BOTTOM NO ONE BELIEVES IN HIS OWN DEATH, OR, TO PUT THE SAME THING IN ANOTHER WAY, IN THE UNCONSCIOUS EVERY ONE OF US IS CONVINCED OF HIS OWN IMMORTALITY. Sigmund Freud on death, as quoted in David Stannard, The Puritan Way of Death: A Study in Religion, Culture, and Social Change, p. 3. I AM READY TO MEET MY MAKER. WHETHER MY MAKER IS PREPARED FOR THE ORDEAL OF MEETING ME IS ANOTHER MATTER. Winston Churchill on his 75 th birthday, in D.J. Enright, ed., The Oxford Book of Death, p. 69. REGARDLESS OF SOCIAL IDENTITY WHEN ALIVE, ALL DEAD BODIES FOLLOW THE SAME DIRECTIONS HOME. Gary Laderman, Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the American Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America, p Why a course on death? Is it trite to say that how we view the death of others, when our own is still presumably distant, and how we approach our own as we age or fall ill, is an indication of how we have lived our lives, both as individuals and as a society? How have we, as human beings, as human beings in America for the past 375 years, attempted to come to grips with the amorphous concept that is death? Have those attempts changed over time, and if so, how? Was, for instance, the agony of the death of one s children lessened for the Puritans because they often had several children, many of whom were likely to die at an early age? Do gender, class, and race have implications for the study of death and dying in America? If so, in what ways? How can the study of the history of death and dying in America inform our individual encounters with it in the 21 st century? In this class we will examine all of these issues, and others, in discussing how Americans have reacted and responded to death and dying throughout our history. Readings will touch on the high cost of dying and the history of the American funeral industry; Puritan attitudes towards death and the afterlife; the softening of those attitudes by the end of the 17 th and into the 18 th century as the Puritan way lost its grip on New England; the romanticization of the idea of death

2 and the development, and then decline, of elaborate mourning rituals; the impact on the national psyche and on death practices of the enormous losses suffered by both North and South during the Civil War; the social context of death using tuberculosis, the 1918 flu epidemic, and AIDS as case studies; and two examples of the rich literature of mourning. SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS Death and Dying in America: A brief historical overview September 6: The Big Picture: Introduction and Overview September 13: The High Cost of Dying? Jessica Mitford vs. The American Funeral Industry Reading: Mitford, The American Way of Death Revisited, entire September 20: How We Got There: The Puritan Way of Death and Its Gravestone Iconography (The best book on this topic, David Stannard s The Puritan Way of Death: A Study in Religion, Culture, and Social Change, is out of print and difficult to get. In lieu of Stannard, I will provide you with extensive notes during class on September 13, but if you can get your hands on a used copy of Stannard, by all means do so. For this class, read especially Chapters 2 and 3.) Puritan Gravestone Iconography (Handouts) Final Paper Topics Due (explained below) September 27: Puritans on the Decline, Romanticism on the Rise (Except for those Morbid Obsessions and the Quest for Cadavers) (If you have Stannard, look at Chapters 4, 5, and 6. Again, I will provide you with extensive notes the week before.) Reading: Laderman, The Sacred Remains, pp Romantic Gravestone Iconography (Handouts) October 4: The Civil War and Its Impact on American Attitudes Towards Death Reading: Laderman, The Sacred Remains, pp Lowenfels, ed., Walt Whitman s Civil War, Chapters 4-7 Film: The Civil War, by Ken Burns

3 Episode Six: Valley of the Shadow of Death 1864 October 11: After the Civil War: Changing Mourning Rituals and the Rise of the American Funeral Industry Was Mitford Right? Reading: Laderman, pp The Social Context Three Case Studies: Tuberculosis, 1918 Flu Epidemic, AIDS October 18: The Social Context: Death, Disease, and Gender: Tuberculosis in the 19 th Century Reading: Rothman, Living in the Shadow of Death: Tuberculosis and the Social Experience of Illness in American History, entire October 25: The Social Context: Death, Disease, and War: The 1918 Flu Epidemic Reading: Barry, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, pp Film: Influenza 1918 November 1: The 1918 Flu Epidemic, Continued Reading: Porter, Pale Horse, Pale Rider, entire Midterm Review November 8: No class: Take-home midterm exam. Details to be provided in class in the weeks before. November 15: The Social Context: Death, Disease, and Sexual Orientation: AIDS Reading: Shilts, And the Band Played On, entire Film: And the Band Played On November 29: Writing about Grief: Doty and Didion Doty, Heaven s Coast, entire Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking, entire Review of requirements for in-class presentations December 6: In-class Presentations December 13: In-class Presentations and Final Views on Death and Dying in America

4 Final Paper and Presentation For this course, you are required to write a page research paper (20 pages if you are taking this class as a senior seminar for American Studies), typed, double-spaced, 10 or 12 point font, with reasonable margins. Be careful to cite your sources appropriately. When in doubt, cite, even if it is not a direct quote. If you are uncertain regarding the rules on this, or need some guidance, please feel free to consult me. You should employ at least 4-5 sources, only one of which may be an internet source. Possible paper topics appear below in no particular order: they are only suggestions, feel free to propose others: Capital punishment Homicide Assisted suicide/euthanasia Abortion Hospice movement AIDS The AIDS Quilt Project Vietnam War Memorial Other war memorials to the dead Epidemics in American history Presidential assassinations Death of cultural icons--princess Diana, Elvis, etc. Death in literature Death in film Obituaries as literature, as historical artifact, as political statement Death and the medical profession The funeral industry The material culture of death Mourning rituals of other cultures Death and violence on television/in video games Your paper topic is due in writing to me on September 20; I will get back to you with either an approval or suggestions for revision by September 27. Papers will be presented to the class during our last two class periods of the semester; the format will be quite informal, you will be expected to present your topic and your findings, and then entertain questions and/or critiques from the class. "Death News" An important component of each class session will be something I call "Death News," recent newspaper and/or magazine articles regarding topical issues that might be of interest to the class,

5 and that demonstrate how discussion of death is all around us, in spite of the rather common notion that death is the last taboo. Some examples would be articles on AIDS, military deaths in Iraq, 9/11 commemorations, cemetery desecration, the right-to-life movement and the abortion debate, etc. I will take primary responsibility for Death News, but all are very welcome to contribute. Those who do will receive a bit of extra credit. The Death News portion of the class with either be at the very beginning of the class, or at "half time," depending on the main topic we are covering that evening. Required books, available in the Douglass/Cook Co-Op: Jessica Mitford, The American Way of Death Revisited Gary Laderman, The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, Walter Lowenfels, ed., Walt Whitman s Civil War John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in American History Katherine Anne Porter, Pale Horse, Pale Rider Shelia M. Rothman, Living in the Shadow of Death: Tuberculosis and the Social Experience of Illness in American History Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On Mark Doty, Heaven's Coast Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking Recommended and available at the Co-op but not required: Keith Wailoo, Dying in the City of the Blues: Sickle Cell Anemia and the Politics of Race and Health, and Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking Class Requirements and Grading Policy Preparation, attendance, and participation are very important in this class. The class will most commonly be split between lecture and discussion, depending upon the material assigned for that week. In addition, from time to time you will have a short in-class writing assignment, wherein I ask you to respond to a question regarding one of the readings for that day. Therefore, please bring the book(s) of the moment to class with you each week, just in case. Your grades will be determined in a non-formulaic manner by taking into account attendance, class participation, your midterm, your final paper and presentation, and any in-class writing assignments.

6 Office Hours My office is in the Old Queens Building on the College Avenue Campus, Room 208A. You may schedule an appointment via at any time, or via my office phone, My home phone, for emergencies, is , cell is I will hold regular office hours every Wednesday from 4:30 5:30 p.m. in RAB 018, and every Friday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in my College Avenue office, but am also happy to meet you on the other campuses by pre-arrangement if transportation and parking are difficult for you. The best way to reach me is via , which I read frequently and will answer promptly.