Syllabus A-S 546
Art Death and Dying
Instructor: Prof. Doreen Maloney
Email: doreenmaloney@gmail.com
Office Phone: no phone
Office Hours: by appointment
As Simon Critchley states, “…..death comes into the world to us through the death of others and so the question of grief is
key in the relation between death and love. …Perhaps finally my death isn’t so important, but more my relationship to those
whom I love who will die. The one thing that gives life meaning is the certainty of death, this frame, and without that, life
would rapidly become meaningless.” (http://bigthink.com/ideas/13157)
“A Free Man thinks nothing more than of Death” – Spinoza
And we thus get the doctrine of Anaxagoras, that all things are mixed together; so that nothing really exists.
(Aristotle Metaphysics. Book IV 1007b19-1008a7. 4th century BC).
Anaxagoras said to a man who was grieving because he was dying in a foreign land, The descent to Hades is the same from
every place. (Diogenes Laertius. Book 2. 3rd century AD.)
“To Philosophize is to learn how to Die” Cicero
This course will look at ideas about death, cause us to reflect on our identity in the face of death, our
grief, our mourning and the
art work we make in and around this topic!
Course Description:
An advanced course focusing on a specific area of Intermedia art production, i.e. video, installation, robotics, or digital
techniques, emphasizing personal development of theoretical and skill-based foundation. May be repeated to a maximum of
six credits when identified by the same subtitle and nine credits when identified by different subtitles. Nine studio hours per
week.
Prerequisites: A-S 200 and either A-S 346 or A-S 347 or consent of instructor, or graduate enrollment.
Student Learning Outcomes:
After completing this course, the student will be able to:
1. Gain familiarity with metaphysical ideas death; namely of duality, impermanence, grief,
illness and mourning
2. Analyze and integrate these issues and create a advanced body of work based upon
their reflections and research
3. Prepare a presentation based on individual research on the topic; and create an original
work based upon this research
4. Support and assess their peers through the review and critique process
Course goals or objectives: This course will take a multi-faceted approach to the topic of death. We will read Plato
dialogue about the death of Socrates and “depart” from there, no pun intended. We will investigate notions of the body
and soul, illness, mind, mourning, silence and transformation. This syllabus will change as the course progresses.
Required Materials/Books:
Plato’s Phaedo – Immortality according to Socrates
C.S. Lewis “A Grief Observed”
Jean-Dominique Bauby – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche – Awakening the Luminous Mind, Meditations and lectures
Simon Critchly – Death in “How to Stop Living and Start Worrying” and excerpts from the “Book of Dead Philosophers”
Thomas Merton – Selected writing on death
Freud – Essay “Mourning and Melancholia”
Shelly Kagan – Yale Open Course – “Death”
Selected Screenings: Jung, Critchley, Bauby
Description of Course Activities and Assignments
We will be holding meetings with discussions, sometimes both days of the week, sometimes not. The syllabus will vary
according to the activities and assignments planned and will change as the course progresses.
Overall there will be 4 major assignments in an addition to the reading.
Course Assignments
1: Pick three words or two paragraphs from Phaedo and create a work.
2. 3 works / 3 weeks: Heaven, Limbo/Bardo, Hell
3. Grief/Mourning/Illness
4. Silence/Tranquility/Love
Summary Description of Course Assignments
Each assignment will have a course sheet that will be given to you that specifically outlines the assignment.
Course Grading:
Underdeveloped:
The work is disorganized, or there is little work present, craft is shoddy, and/or presentation is
sloppy, and concept is superficial or ill defined.
Developing:
The works seem focused, craft level shows skill, concept is well thought out or is developing, but
more work is needed for the work to seem complete.
Developed:
The work that has a distinct, well-conceived concept, craft and presentation are at gallery levels.
Well-Developed:
The work excels in its concept, presentation, craft and contemporary reference.
o
Grading
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
scale for Graduates:
Developed/Well-Developed = A
Developing = B
Underdeveloped = C
o
Grading
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scale for undergraduates:
Developed/Well-Developed = A
Developing = B
Underdeveloped = C-E
Graduate students will have give a short presentation on an artist who deals with death to the class.
Final Exam Information
There is no final exam.
Mid-term Grade
Mid-term grades will be posted in myUK by the deadline established in the Academic Calendar
(http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/AcademicCalendar.htm)
Course Policies:
Submission of Assignments:
All work must be finished by the start of critique, promptly at 10:00 am.
Attendance Policy.
You are allowed 3 excused absences. Unexcused absence on critique day will result in a letter grade
deduction and the grade will drop for the subsequent missed days. Funerals and medical
emergencies are excused absences. Having a slight cold is not excused on a CRITIQUE day. You
need to be there.
Excused Absences:
Students need to notify the professor of absences prior to class when possible. S.R. 5.2.4.2 defines the following as
acceptable reasons for excused absences: (a) serious illness, (b) illness or death of family member, (c) University-related
trips, (d) major religious holidays, and (e) other circumstances found to fit “reasonable cause for nonattendance” by the
professor.
Students anticipating an absence for a major religious holiday are responsible for notifying the instructor in writing of
anticipated absences due to their observance of such holidays no later than the last day in the semester to add a class.
Information regarding dates of major religious holidays may be obtained through the religious liaison, Mr. Jake Karnes
(859-257-2754).
Students are expected to withdraw from the class if more than 20% of the classes scheduled for the
semester are missed (excused or unexcused) per university policy. That is the equivalent of 6 class
meetings.
Verification of Absences
Students may be asked to verify their absences in order for them to be considered excused. Senate Rule 5.2.4.2 states
that faculty have the right to request “appropriate verification” when students claim an excused absence because of
illness or death in the family. Appropriate notification of absences due to university-related trips is required prior to the
absence.
Academic Integrity
Per university policy, students shall not plagiarize, cheat, or falsify or misuse academic records. Students are expected
to adhere to University policy on cheating and plagiarism in all courses. The minimum penalty for a first offense is a
zero on the assignment on which the offense occurred. If the offense is considered severe or the student has other
academic offenses on their record, more serious penalties, up to suspension from the university may be imposed.
Plagiarism and cheating are serious breaches of academic conduct. Each student is advised to become familiar with the
various forms of academic dishonesty as explained in the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Complete
information can be found at the following website: http://www.uky.edu/Ombud. A plea of ignorance is not acceptable
as a defense against the charge of academic dishonesty. It is important that you review this information as all ideas
borrowed from others need to be properly credited.
Part II of Student Rights and Responsibilities (available online http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/Code/part2.html)
states that all academic work, written or otherwise, submitted by students to their instructors or other academic
supervisors, is expected to be the result of their own thought, research, or self-expression. In cases where students feel
unsure about the question of plagiarism involving their own work, they are obliged to consult their instructors on the
matter before submission.
When students submit work purporting to be their own, but which in any way borrows ideas, organization, wording or
anything else from another source without appropriate acknowledgement of the fact, the students are guilty of
plagiarism. Plagiarism includes reproducing someone else’s work, whether it be a published article, chapter of a book,
a paper from a friend or some file, or something similar to this. Plagiarism also includes the practice of employing or
allowing another person to alter or revise the work which a student submits as his/her own, whoever that other person
may be.
Students may discuss assignments among themselves or with an instructor or tutor, but when the actual work is done, it
must be done by the student, and the student alone. When a student’s assignment involves research in outside sources of
information, the student must carefully acknowledge exactly what, where and how he/she employed them. If the words
of someone else are used, the student must put quotation marks around the passage in question and add an appropriate
indication of its origin. Making simple changes while leaving the organization, content and phraseology intact is
plagiaristic. However, nothing in these Rules shall apply to those ideas which are so generally and freely circulated as
to be a part of the public domain (Section 6.3.1).
Please note: Any assignment you turn in may be submitted to an electronic database to check for plagiarism.
Accommodations due to disability:
If you have a documented disability that requires academic accommodations, please see me as soon as possible during
scheduled office hours. In order to receive accommodations in this course, you must provide me with a Letter of
Accommodation from the Disability Resource Center (Room 2, Alumni Gym, 257-2754, email address:
jkarnes@email.uky.edu) for coordination of campus disability services available to students with disabilities.
Classroom Behavior Policies (optional)
Please turn cellphones off. Be respectful of others in the class in your tone and in your critiques and debates.
Tentative Course Schedule
August – September
Monday
Wednesday
8-22
First day of Class – go over syllabus, etc. listen to lecture
1 and 2 of Shelly Kagan. And Critchley Big Think.
8-27
8-29
Plato Lecture 4 and 5 homework. Listen to
6-7 discuss pages. 1-24. Give assignment 1.
9-3
Death: Lecture 8-9. Read pg. 24- 65 Phaedo. Critique
group visits.
9-5
LABOR DAY – SCHOOL HOLIDAY
Discuss 24-65. Critique group visits.
9-10
9-12
Listen Simon Critchley New School “Fear of Annihilation.”
Studio work visits. Read Critchley: Death.
9-17
Studio work visits
9-19
3 Words Assignment 1 due.
9-24
3 Words Assignment 1 due.
9-26
Discuss Critchley. Read Freud
Discuss Freud
October
10-1
Studio Visits
10-3
Discuss C.S Lewis Grief Observed.
10- 8
10-10
Heaven due
10-15
Discuss Lewis part 2
10-17
Studio visits
10-22
Studio Visits
Visit to Gethsemane!!
Limbo/Bardo/Hell due
10-29
Read Merton’s writing.
10-31
Studio Visits
Studio Visits
November - December
11-5
11-7
Diving Bell; discuss till p. 59
11-12
Studio visits
11-14
Diving Bell; discuss the remainder
11-19
Grief/Mournig/Illness due
11-21
Meditation 1 / Studio Visits
11-26
THANKSGIVING
11-28
Meditation 2
12-3
Meditation 3 Studio Visits
12-5
Furnace Mountain Visit
Silence/Tranquility/Love due
Artists to look at:
AIDS and Art
Bill T. Jones Still/Here
Lori Nix
Susan Sontag
James Hopkins
T.V. Santosh
Baroque and Renaissance paintings
Oskar Dawicki
Dominique Gonzalez- Foerster
Jenny Saville
Momento Mori
Kris Kuksi
Hermann Nitsch – Actionists
Berlinde De Bruyckere
Andres Serrano
Nan Goldin
Gregor Schneider
Ricky Allman
Goya
Chapman Brothers
Thomas Hirschhorn