CVL4010

Rites of passage: Culture and celebrating lifecycle events

Fred Klarberg

12 points -3 hours per week -First semester -On-campus or by distance education -Caulfield

Objectives On completion of the subject the students will have acquired a sound understanding of the history, cultural variety and social traditions of rites of passage at points of birth, majority, graduation, marriage, divorce and death; learnt to be sensitive to the differences between other cultures and their own; acquired tolerance of a breadth of past and present practices worldwide, enabling them to assess and comment comparatively and sympathetically on rites of passage presented to them.

Synopsis The public acknowledgment of birth, maturity, marriage and death is widespread yet varies in form from society to society and era to era. This subject examines similarities and differences in rituals relating to birth (including namings), marriage (including monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, group marriage, and same-sex marriage); and the handling of death across traditional and modern societies including aboriginal and post-1788 immigrant cultures which have contributed to present day Australia. The role of the 'celebrant' in creating a valid marriage in Western society is discussed. So too the universality of ritual, its significance and current attitudes to it. The subject will provide background for practitioners to advise clients about the range of appropriate possibilities available to them in the planning of their own lifecycle celebrations.

Assessment Essay on theme: (5000 words): 50% -Class presentation: 5% -Supporting documentation (4000 words): 45%

Preliminary reading

Berndt, Ronald M and Catherine H Berndt The world of the first Australians: Aboriginal traditional life, past and present 5th rev. edn, Aboriginal Studies Press for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 1992
Stone L Road to divorce: England 1538-1987 OUP, 1990
Van Gennep A The rites of passage Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960

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