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78101-01 - Seminar: Anthropology of Death (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Michael Stasik (michael.stasik@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course introduces key debates in the anthropology of death through two intersecting themes: the imaginaries through which death is envisioned, and the materialities through which it is handled. (1) We explore how communities accommodate mortality through ritual, mourning, commemoration and forgetting, notions of rebirth and attempts at technological preservation, and how these practices and imaginaries organise loss, care and moral valuation. (2) We trace the materialities of death: bodies and their transformations, the work of burial, disposal, exhumation and funerary industries. Bringing classical and contemporary anthropological readings into conversation, the course attends to how kinship, religion, medicine and the state claim authority over declaring, managing and (dis)owning the dead, and situates death within questions of value, personhood, violence and suffering, while also opening onto possible futures of the afterlife. The course includes a visit to the MKB exhibition 'Der Weg ins Jenseits' and likely a guided walk through a Basel cemetery. |
| Comments | Participants are encouraged to set digital devices (laptops, tablets, phones) aside during sessions, except when needed for accessibility or specific assignments. |
| Admission requirements | The number of participants is limited to 25 people. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to the subjects listed under "modules". |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 18.02.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 25.02.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Fasnachtsferien |
| Wednesday 04.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 11.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 18.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 25.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 01.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 08.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 15.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 22.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 29.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 06.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 13.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 20.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Wednesday 27.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Ethnologie, grosser Seminarraum |
| Modules |
Modul: Erweiterung Religionswissenschaft (Bachelor's degree subject: Study of Religion) Modul: Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Theory and General Anthropology (Master's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Wissenschaftliche Vertiefung in der Ethnologie: Sachthemen (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Public Health and Social Life (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Migration, Mobility and Transnationalism (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Ethnologie |