• Inactive for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Professor Jeremy Boulton
• Lecturer: Professor Violetta Hionidou, Dr Sally Waite, Professor Athanassios Vergados, Dr Eric Tourigny, Professor Daniel Siemens, Dr Shane McCorristine, Professor Chris Fowler, Dr John Holton, Professor Susan-Mary Grant, Ms Anne Redgate, Prof. Tim Kirk, Professor Mark Jackson

• Owning School: History, Classics and Archaeology
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

The module aims to promote a comparative, interdisciplinary approach to our understanding of death and the life course. Deploying the disciplines of History, Classics and Archaeology it considers how treatment of the dead relate to features of their lives, such as how old they were, how they had lived, and how they died. Each topic is explored through a combination of examples drawn from different historical periods. The module promotes informed reflection on similarities and differences from across the broad span of human history, from prehistory to the twenty-first century. Together with the seminar leaders, students will consider why things were done the way they were in each historical context discussed, and whether any general patterns can be identified from this.

Outline Of Syllabus

Will include some or all of the following topics: Theoretical introduction including attitudes to death;
The historical facts and figures surrounding death: death rates; expectation of life and historical changes over time; Violent deaths, mass deaths in famine and war; punitive deaths; The deaths of young children and how they are treated and commemorated Deaths of leaders; deaths of criminals; celebrated deaths; How death is identified and whether it is a moment or a process; how quickly a funeral is arranged; why variations occur Gatherings, performances, rituals surrounding funerals Inhumation, cremation, excarnation etc. How these relate to the length of funerary process and prevalent cultural concepts about personhood, death and what follows death; Grave markers; war memorials; statues of the dead; Journeys taken by the bodies of the dead; exhumations and reburials; distributed remains Places of burial/curation of remains; treatment of the effects of the dead/circulation of images, texts and memorabilia, mourning jewellery, memorial tattoos.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Seminars encourage independent study and promote improvements in oral communication, problem-solving skills and adaptability. They encourage students to share ideas and information and develop a sense of common identity as historians before they undertake individual and more specialised advanced research projects

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills outcomes, develops key skills in research, reading and writing. Seminar attendance encourages participation and preparation.

This module can be made available to Erasmus students only with the agreement of the Head of Subject and of the Module Leader. This option must be discussed in person at the beginning of your exchange period. No restrictions apply to study-abroad, exchange and Loyola students.
All Erasmus students at Newcastle University are expected to do the same assessment as students registered for a degree.
Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. This will take the form of an alternative assessment, as outlined in the formats below:

Modules assessed by Coursework and Exam:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be one essay in addition to the other coursework assessment (the length of the essay should be adjusted in order to comply with the assessment tariff); to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Exam only:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be two 2,000 word written exercises; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Coursework only:
All semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be expected to complete the standard assessment for the module; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending the whole academic year or semester 2 are required to complete the standard assessment as set out in the MOF under all circumstances.

Reading Lists

• HCA8001's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• HCA8001's Timetable