All cultures have specific rituals for laying their dead to rest. Cemeteries, shellmounds, and mausoleums are intended to be places for eternal peace, but the history of cemeteries is lively and often controversial. In this course, students will learn about the history of burial practices and explore Bay Area cemeteries. By examining headstones, architecture, land use, and symbols, we can glean history, culture, and social priorities throughout time. From the rich and storied past of the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland to the development of housing, parking lots, and shopping malls on sacred Ohlone burial grounds, the Bay Area provides insight into cemeteries that represent a variety of cultures, religions, histories, and controversies. Students will visit multiple local sites and design a research project of their own to contribute to a class website. Topics may be historical, cultural, scientific or other in discussion with the instructor. Research time and check-ins will be built into the structure of the course. Students will also be expected to do an independent field research trip in relation to their project.

Meeting requirements:

• We will have three face to face meetings throughout the semester.
• Two mandatory all-class field trips will take place on September 12th and December 5th.
• Students must attend at least one additional field trip with the instructor from a set of optional dates to be determined at the start of the
• semester.
  Weekly virtual classes will alternate between full class discussions and time for individual research check-ins.