Being Mortal

The publisher's website with many reviews.  Pick one or two to read and report back here.  Let's not all read the same reviews...
http://atulgawande.com/book/being-mortal/

End of Life deliberation

Do you have any questions or observations from last week's deliberation?  Do we see some common ground?  What do you need to know more about?

State Funerals & National Memorials

I wasn't alive when MLK was shot, nor the related murders of that era, so it occurred to me that we might view some of that footage and discuss.  What big/national funerals have you seen (not necessarily in person)?  I don't recommend watching all of these -- pick 1-2 that are of interest to you.

Q: What can you learn from a funeral service? What do you observe about the metaphors, the symbols, the language, the response?  Why all the fuss, the ceremony? Perhaps you could ask your parents or grandparents what they remember about some of these deaths and funerals.


Dr. King's funeral 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU1634eB6uk
Background -- last few days before MLK was killed, including excerpt from his "I've been to the mountaintop" sermon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohYgjwa71lg

Bobby Kennedy's funeral 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_3U4J3YrS4

John F. Kennedy's funeral 1963
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KJQkn6zUvM
Background - the day JFK died
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as-505KOXmc

Winston Churchill's funeral
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC1WEdgXKEI

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's funeral 1995
mostly footage is of President Clinton's remarks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvIr8nKVnU

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah funeral 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvIr8nKVnU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4e8OX-xLBI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfnCLpBTwXg
More about the successor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3pG-6sSKnI

Princess Diana's funeral  1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86MQSbZo28Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezuIDtL6ydg

Holocaust Remembrance in Israel 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1h8ZPCpVHw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKVk7kyU4qA

Funeral Of Kemel Ataturk of Turkey (1938)

British newsreel footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZxD3pYh77I

Mahatma Gandhi Funeral 1948
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Jcprl4lnY
newsreel footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KDQhLQUj5w

The Funeral Of Pandit Nehru (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukWhknBehRQ

Current Events - January

Is It Better to Die in America or in England? - NYTimes.com

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/20/opinion/is-it-better-to-die-in-america-or-in-england.html?emc=edit_th_20160120&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25414714&referer=

David Bowie died this week.  Can you find an obituary?

10 people were killed in Istanbul yesterday, 12 January.  Can you find a news report about it?

Introductions (by 20 Jan)

What's your name, field of study, relevant interests?  What is your biggest fear concerning death?

Respond to at least two of your classmates' posts.