Re-Imagining Death

The Calgary Institute for the Humanities 44th Annual Community Seminar

Although everyone dies, the meaning and experience of death varies widely depending on time and place. One classic account of how western society has treated death posits a major shift from the premodern era, where death was a familiar presence, to the modern era, when death was hidden away. More recently, scholars have argued that we have entered a new era, in which death has become a spectacle. This seminar will look at how the experience and representation of death in the contemporary era has changed as a result of new technologies (the internet, AI, holograms), societal shifts (the rise of environmentalism, the decline of religion) and other developments. What new experiences of death have emerged, and what are the ethical challenges that accompany them?

SPEAKERS:

BELIEVING IN DIGITAL GHOSTS: LESSONS FROM MOHISM
Dr. Alexis Elder
Associate Professor of Philosophy, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, USA

THE FUTURE OF DEATH
Dr. John Troyer
Director, Centre for Death and Society, University of Bath, UK

SELFHOOD AND PERSISTENCE BEYOND DEATH
Dr. Christopher Moreman
Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, California State University, East Bay

Sharon Stevens
Independent artist and arts administrator, Curator, Equinox Vigil

SPECIAL MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

Tchaikovksky’s Piano Trio in A minor, opus 50, “A la memoire d’un grand artiste.”
Roman Rabinovich, Jonathan Swensen, Alexi Kenny
Chamber Fest West