GEOG 595 Special Topics in Geography: Geographies of Death
In recent years, we have mourned the loss of friends during a global pandemic; grieved the deaths of migrants and activists; and witnessed the devastation of human and more-than-human communities through war, genocide, and ecocide. Drawing on the work of academics such as Avril Maddrell, Jason De León, Achille Mbembe, and Patricia MacCormack, this graduate seminar invites students to collectively examine and develop spatial frameworks for understanding the emotional, social, and political dimensions of contemporary deathscapes.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Evaluate how death and grieving processes operate across different geographical and temporal scales.
- Assess the diverse cultural and community approaches to death, memorialization, and mourning.
- Examine how social, economic, and political forces that shape people’s lives continue to influence and be reflected during the dying event and after death.
- Consider how and why non-human actors should be included in broader analyses of death geographies.
- Analyze how death permeates different spaces and mobilities, from the spacial, embodied-emotional, and the virtual.
Final project:
Students will choose one of three formats in order to deepen their engagement with the themes of the course:
(1) an academic article or thesis chapter suitable for publication or integration into their graduate research;
(2) a critical literature review on a topic relevant to death geographies;
(3) a creative outcome, such as a digital zine or storymap, that translates theoretical and empirical insights into an alternative medium. Regardless of format, projects should demonstrate sustained engagement with key course thinkers and theories.
In addition, each student will be responsible for leading and facilitating one group discussion during the seminar.