The End of Life and What Comes Next: Keynote Address

An urn with the conference title and dates

March 31, 2022

4:00PM - 5:30PM

Thompson Library 1120 or via Zoom

Add to Calendar 2022-03-31 15:00:00 2022-03-31 16:30:00 The End of Life and What Comes Next: Keynote Address Thomas Laqueur, Helen Fawcett Professor of History Emeritus, University of California Berkeley“A Magic We Can Believe In:” Belief, Unbelief, and the Sacrality of the Dead Abstract: The dead have always been enchanted and at the same time unenchanted because they are the detritus of that infinitely enigmatic final act of being human: death. They are gone and not gone, remembered and not remembered, able to do great things and paradigmatically useless. This talk explores the role of dogma, beliefs and unbelief in how we treat mortal remains. It begins with praxis and asks how it comports with its presumed foundation in what we hold to be true about the dead. The talk is about the charisma of bodies and bones and objects that have come in contact with them: material memory. I trace briefly a history of the enchantment and disenchantment of the dead and then explore examples of their sacrality in the face of theological arguments that they are profane—the case of Protestant saints, for example—and of their ability to reconcile the present to the past—the collection of soil from lynching sites for example in the absence of any views about why this practice might work its effects.For event updates, please continue to monitor this page.All events sponsored by the CSR are free and open to the public.The Zoom livestream of this event will be presented with automated closed captions. If you wish to request traditional CART services or other accommodations, please contact religion@osu.edu. Requests made by about 10 days before the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.Effective 08/02/2021, students, faculty, staff and visitors to all Ohio State campuses and medical facilities are required to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. Masks continue to be required outdoors for unvaccinated individuals when they cannot maintain physical distancing. Fully vaccinated people are not required to mask outdoors. Thompson Library 1120 or via Zoom OSU ASC Drupal 8 ascwebservices@osu.edu America/New_York public

2022-03-31 16:00:00 2022-03-31 17:30:00 The End of Life and What Comes Next: Keynote Address Thomas Laqueur, Helen Fawcett Professor of History Emeritus, University of California Berkeley“A Magic We Can Believe In:” Belief, Unbelief, and the Sacrality of the Dead Abstract: The dead have always been enchanted and at the same time unenchanted because they are the detritus of that infinitely enigmatic final act of being human: death. They are gone and not gone, remembered and not remembered, able to do great things and paradigmatically useless. This talk explores the role of dogma, beliefs and unbelief in how we treat mortal remains. It begins with praxis and asks how it comports with its presumed foundation in what we hold to be true about the dead. The talk is about the charisma of bodies and bones and objects that have come in contact with them: material memory. I trace briefly a history of the enchantment and disenchantment of the dead and then explore examples of their sacrality in the face of theological arguments that they are profane—the case of Protestant saints, for example—and of their ability to reconcile the present to the past—the collection of soil from lynching sites for example in the absence of any views about why this practice might work its effects.For event updates, please continue to monitor this page.All events sponsored by the CSR are free and open to the public.The Zoom livestream of this event will be presented with automated closed captions. If you wish to request traditional CART services or other accommodations, please contact religion@osu.edu. Requests made by about 10 days before the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.Effective 08/02/2021, students, faculty, staff and visitors to all Ohio State campuses and medical facilities are required to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. Masks continue to be required outdoors for unvaccinated individuals when they cannot maintain physical distancing. Fully vaccinated people are not required to mask outdoors. Thompson Library 1120 or via Zoom America/New_York public

Thomas Laqueur, Helen Fawcett Professor of History Emeritus, University of California Berkeley

“A Magic We Can Believe In:” Belief, Unbelief, and the Sacrality of the Dead

Abstract: The dead have always been enchanted and at the same time unenchanted because they are the detritus of that infinitely enigmatic final act of being human: death. They are gone and not gone, remembered and not remembered, able to do great things and paradigmatically useless. This talk explores the role of dogma, beliefs and unbelief in how we treat mortal remains. It begins with praxis and asks how it comports with its presumed foundation in what we hold to be true about the dead. The talk is about the charisma of bodies and bones and objects that have come in contact with them: material memory. I trace briefly a history of the enchantment and disenchantment of the dead and then explore examples of their sacrality in the face of theological arguments that they are profane—the case of Protestant saints, for example—and of their ability to reconcile the present to the past—the collection of soil from lynching sites for example in the absence of any views about why this practice might work its effects.

For event updates, please continue to monitor this page.

All events sponsored by the CSR are free and open to the public.

The Zoom livestream of this event will be presented with automated closed captions. If you wish to request traditional CART services or other accommodations, please contact religion@osu.edu. Requests made by about 10 days before the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

Effective 08/02/2021, students, faculty, staff and visitors to all Ohio State campuses and medical facilities are required to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. Masks continue to be required outdoors for unvaccinated individuals when they cannot maintain physical distancing. Fully vaccinated people are not required to mask outdoors.