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Lecturer(s)
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Bubík Tomáš, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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Introductory to the course The nature of funeral religiosity and its significance Concepts and attitudes towards death and the tabooing of death Research on funeral religiosity on the example of Vyšehrad cemetery Rites of passage and funeral rites in the Czech Republic Cemetery as an important place for research on religiosity - Třinec and Litvínov Principles for field research Experience with cemetery space Funerary symbolism Memento Mori: bringing the classroom to the cemetery Fieldwork I. Fieldwork II. Presentation day Readings: 1) Zelensky, Wilbur, The Gravestone Index: Tracking Personal Religiosity Across Nations, Regions, and Periods, The Geographical Review Vol. 97, No. 4. 2) Bubík, Tomáš, A Graveyard as a Home to Ghosts or a Subject of Scholarly Research? The Czech National Cemetery at Vyšehrad, Changing Societies & Personalities Vol. 4, No. 2/2020. 3) Suchan, Laura, Memento mori: Bringing Classroom to the Cemetery", The History teacher Vol. 42, No. 1. 4) Mitoraj, Suzanne, A Tale of Two Cemeteries: Gravestones as Community Artifacts, The English Journal Vo. 90, No. 5. 5) Gorman, J. E. Frederick, DiBlasi, Michael, Gravestone Iconography and Mortuary Ideology, Ethnohistory Vol. 28 No. 1.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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unspecified
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Learning outcomes
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The aim of the course is to introduce students how to study the degree of religiosity in a given area by means of research into cemetery artifacts. In the case of the so-called funeral religiosity, it is the religiosity of the bereaved, which manifests itself primarily in the depiction of tombstones close to the dead and in the arrangement of grave sites. According to ethnographer Wilbur Zelensky, who carried out extensive ethnographic research in the Anglo-Saxon countries, tombstones express very inner feelings, messages, messages and personal values, which are manifested especially in threshold life situations, in existential crises. These are the so-called "last letters addressed to the world". In other words, cemetery research can provide very important information about local history, contemporary literature, architecture, art, but also about religion, about one's attitudes to the last things. The course introduces students to the theory and methodology of this form of research.
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Prerequisites
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unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria
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unspecified
The student will write a seminar paper in the range of 10 standard pages, in which he/she will be present and compare various forms of research into funeral religiosity on the basis a "compulsory reading" and conduct research on a selected cemetery. The deadline for submission of seminar paper is June 15. If student goes to the state examinations, he / she submits the seminar work by the deadline agreed with the teacher of this course.
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Recommended literature
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Frederick Gorman, Michael DiBlasi. (1981). Gravestone Iconography and Mortuary Ideology. Ethnohistory Vol. 28 No. 1.
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Laura Suchan. (2008). Memento mori: Bringing Classroom to the Cemetery. The History teacher Vol. 42, No. 1.
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Suzanne Mitoraj. (2001). A Tale of Two Cemeteries: Gravestones as Community Artifacts. The English Journal Vo. 90, No. 5.
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Tomáš Bubík. (2020). A Graveyard as a Home to Ghosts or a Subject of Scholarly Research? The Czech National Cemetery at Vyšehrad. Changing Societies & Personalities Vol. 4, No. 2.
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Wilbur Zelensky. (2007). The Gravestone Index: Tracking Personal Religiosity Across Nations, Regions, and Periods. The Geographical Review Vol. 97, No. 4.
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