{"word_count": 291, "character_count": 2161}
This panel presents research from across disciplines and cultures todiscuss the many ways in which the legacy of the Enlightenment endures oris challenged in funerary practices and expectations surroundingend-of-life.It could be argued that an enduring legacy of the Enlightenment is thepersistent ideological emphasis upon reason and individualism rather thanfaith, tradition and emotion in Western public and cultural life. Such anemphasis, always suspect, is thrown into particularly acute relief whenconfronting mortality. This panel seeks to bring together scholars’ workfrom across disciplines and cultures to discuss the many ways in which thelegacy of the Enlightenment endures or is challenged in funerary practicesand expectations surrounding end-of-life. The Enlightenment’s aim to reformsociety through reason, to challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith,and advance knowledge through the scientific method can be exemplified byvarious cultural designs of death; not least the development of cremationand discourses surrounding suicide, euthanasia and organ donation amongstmany other examples. In speaking of *designing* death we are both alludingto the agency of people in being creators of things or processes that arefashioned in relation to death and dying, as well as what is culturally*designed *through an encounter with mortality. And in the process ofdesigning an encounter with death, to what extent are beauty, order andharmony qualities that are valued? How are encounters with death and dyingboth products of the designer and the designed? And how does the legacy ofthe Enlightenment endure or become obsolete in the process of designingdeath or in the design itself? We actively encourage an engagement withthese questions from a diverse range of disciplinary, theoretical andethnographic perspectives.Deadline for paper abstract submission is 5th January 2014Paper abstracts of 250 words maximum submitted via the web link below.For further information see:http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa2014/panels.php5?PanelID=2758Dr Hannah Rumble and Dr Arnar Arnason(Dept. of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen)drhannahrumble@GMAIL.COM