Death has been alive and well in the world since the Fall of Man. Since that time, Death, the concept, the actual event, the figure, has permeated and haunted the human imagination.  From the cave paintings of Lascaux depicting hunting scenes to Death as narrator in Markus Zusak’s 2005 bestselling novel, The Book Thief, death has shown his face from prehistory to the current day. How do we then live with the knowledge of death? How are death, health and mortality entwined? Can we overcome death or must we instead make space for it within our daily living? To what extent is it the one answer to every deep question about life?  
Join us as we explore these questions and more, from historical approaches to dealing with death, to caring for the dying, and grieving with the aggrieved. In this 4-week module of Food for Thought, we’ll delve into this quintessential topic and explore it with the help of voices like Montaigne, Plato, Dorothy Day, Lydia Dugdale, Christian Wiman, Emily Dickinson, Carlos Eire, Marilynne Robinson and more.  This module will culminate with a special event taking place on April 1st, our second annual Ars Vivendi Lecture, featuring award-winning poet Christian Wiman and director of Columbia’s Center for Clinical Medical Ethics Lydia Dugdale, as they explore "The Art of Dying" in an evening conversation (find out more about this special event by visiting: https://arsvivendi2020.eventbrite.com).

Dinner & Reader provided.