Zen Dochterman Office Hours: Porter, Hungry
Section Notes Slug 2pm-3pm, Wednesdays.
January 16, 2002 zendochterman@hotmail.com
Sociology of Death and Dying Ð ZenÕs Section
"Society was not constructed, as Aristotle says, for the sake of life and more life, but from defect, from death and the flight from death, from fear of separation and fear of individualityÉthere are no social groups without a religion of their own immortality, and history making is always the quest for group-immortality. Only an unrepressed humanity, strong enough to live-and-die, could let Eros seek union and let death keep separateness." --Norman O. Brown, Life Against Death.
By choosing to take this optional section, I feel that you are eager to discuss the course material and engage with your fellow students in section. I share this excitement and hope that we can generate interesting, creative approaches to the readings and lectures as well as an open, energetic group dynamic. In so doing, we can come to a better understanding of the way in which our own attitudes towards death and dying have been shaped by historical, cultural, technological, institutional, and psychological factors, and gain more appreciation for cultural perspectives different than our own.
Ø Expectations & Information
§ On-time, consistent attendance. If you will be late or absent please email me before section starts at 12:30.
§ Active participation: I do not limit active participation to speaking in class, but include such things as critical reflection, sending Wendy and myself emails, or seeing us in office hours, and continuing in-class discussions outside of the class.
§ All papers should be typed, doubled spaced in Times,12 point font. All sources must be cited using paranthetical citation or footnotes.
§ No late papers will be accepted without prior arrangement.
§ I am available by appointment to review any paper or outline you are working on for the class, whether for issues of grammar, style, structure, or content.
§ I am also available to meet, in office hours or by appointment, to discuss any issues raised by the class. If you wish to discuss a paper, I strongly encourage you to bring a first draft, outline, or a sketch of ideas.
§ I would like to hear any feedback you have about the way class or section is going, the pace of the material, or issues you would like to treat in section.
Internet Site https://members.tripod.com/Altjeringa/sociology.html
I have started and will be updating an internet site throughout the quarter. While it is not required to view the website, it does provide a list of links, reading notes, and questions that will be helpful in a number of ways. The site will help you to prepare for section (as I will often post section activities the day before), to examine the readings (through notes and questions that I post), and to write your papers (through links to death and dying resources on the web). Additionally, if there is interest, we can start a section discussion site, to explore issues raised by section away from the classroom, or raise concerns not covered in the class. If anyone would like to access the site, but does not know how to use the internet, I will be happy to show them after class or section. (It only takes about 5 minutes to learn)