Death, Grief and Culture
UndergraduateGRF-SGY3522025
Analyse how humans deal with death and incorporate mourning into our cultures. Reassess the rituals of grief. Probe the politics of euthanasia. Explore the social function of the cemetery. Track the ways that the internet has affected how we mourn.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 6 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Start dates
- 14 July 2025
- Price from
- $2,124
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Death, Grief and Culture
About this subject
After successfully completing this subject you should be able to:
1. Understand the complexity of grief and its expressions cross-culturally;
2. Understand the profound impact of human mortality in the production of culture generally;
3. Reflect upon your own values and attitudes in relation to death and the morning ritual;
4. Understand the impact of secularisation and medicalisation on modern death culture;
5. Understand conceptual, historical and social aspects of death, dying and grief culture.
- Ways of seeing death.
- Cemeteries as social space.
- Concepts of grief and morning.
- Grief and its cultural dimensions.
- Mourning and memory in the digital age.
- Representations of death.
- Photography and memory.
- Assisted suicide and euthanasia.
A key definition distinguishing human beings from other animals is that humans live in the knowledge of their mortality. This subject explores the human condition of death and dying as it draws from interdisciplinary research literatures and cultural objects, including film and memoir. It examines major psychological and psychoanalytic concepts of grief, mourning and melancholia as well as key themes on topics such as: death and memorialisation online; cross-cultural death rites and beliefs; the politics of mourning; legal issues and the politics of euthanasia; dark tourism; death and memoir; death and celebrity culture; death denial and taboo; death and representation; love and death.
- Bibliography — Annotated (30%)
- Essay (40%)
- Non-Invigilated Exam — Multiple Choice (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
With a network of campuses spanning three cities in South East Queensland, Griffith University is committed to progressive multidisciplinary teaching and research and a valuable online provider with Open Universities Australia. Already attracting students from over one hundred countries, Griffith's dedication to academic excellence is available across Australia through OUA.
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Entry requirements
Others
Note: Level 3 subjects normally assume a moderate level of prior knowledge in this area, e.g. from studying related Level 1 and 2 subjects or other relevant experience.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateGRF-ART-DEG
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