The Padre
Posts: 4,558 
Location: Ontario
Location: Ontario
February 16th, 2007, 01:58 PM
LONDON (AFP) - A British university has become the first in the country to offer a degree for funeral directors.
The course at Bath University, in south-west England, will cover everything from bereavement counselling to the disposal of remains.
Organisers say it is necessary because traditional funerals are dying out in Britain, where more and more people opt for ceremonies featuring quirky touches like motorcycle hearses, and ashes being launched heavenwards in fireworks.
"In a multicultural society, we now have new and different traditions and rituals," Alan Slater, chief executive of the National Association of Funeral Directors, which helped develop the course, told The Times Friday.
"In an increasingly secular society, funerals are changing -- from being about disposal of remains and remembering the dead, they are becoming more about a celebration of life."
Una MacConville, from the university, added that there was a growing understanding of death as a "social experience" rather than just a physical event.
Other unusual courses on offer at British universities include golf studies at Lincoln University, eastern England, and psychology of the paranormal at Coventry University in central England.
Staffordshire University, also in the English Midlands, runs a course on football culture which studies the cultural significance of David Beckham.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse.
LONDON (AFP) - A British university has become the first in the country to offer a degree for funeral directors.
The course at Bath University, in south-west England, will cover everything from bereavement counselling to the disposal of remains.
Organisers say it is necessary because traditional funerals are dying out in Britain, where more and more people opt for ceremonies featuring quirky touches like motorcycle hearses, and ashes being launched heavenwards in fireworks.
"In a multicultural society, we now have new and different traditions and rituals," Alan Slater, chief executive of the National Association of Funeral Directors, which helped develop the course, told The Times Friday.
"In an increasingly secular society, funerals are changing -- from being about disposal of remains and remembering the dead, they are becoming more about a celebration of life."
Una MacConville, from the university, added that there was a growing understanding of death as a "social experience" rather than just a physical event.
Other unusual courses on offer at British universities include golf studies at Lincoln University, eastern England, and psychology of the paranormal at Coventry University in central England.
Staffordshire University, also in the English Midlands, runs a course on football culture which studies the cultural significance of David Beckham.
Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse.
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Posts: 6,651
Videos: 5
Location: Newfoundland!
Videos: 5
Location: Newfoundland!
February 16th, 2007, 02:01 PM
there have been colleges (which in england are like universities but offer more vocational and generally easier courses, and are usually for those who left school at 16 rather than 18.) which offer this kind of course for a while. My friend did one. she is now in the business i believe. whatever job u want, you need the training, and for a funeral director, the training has to be around death. Degree level, though... either it's a crap degree or a damned thorough training....
there have been colleges (which in england are like universities but offer more vocational and generally easier courses, and are usually for those who left school at 16 rather than 18.) which offer this kind of course for a while. My friend did one. she is now in the business i believe. whatever job u want, you need the training, and for a funeral director, the training has to be around death. Degree level, though... either it's a crap degree or a damned thorough training....
Newbie
Posts: 4
February 16th, 2007, 08:33 PM
I agree. There was even a story of Harvard offering degrees in the Study of Gaming and People who game now. ...What is this world coming to....
Quoting hermanntrude
there have been colleges (which in england are like universities but offer more vocational and generally easier courses, and are usually for those who left school at 16 rather than 18.) which offer this kind of course for a while. My friend did one. she is now in the business i believe. whatever job u want, you need the training, and for a funeral director, the training has to be around death. Degree level, though... either it's a crap degree or a damned thorough training....
I agree. There was even a story of Harvard offering degrees in the Study of Gaming and People who game now. ...What is this world coming to....
Newbie
Posts: 45
Location: LONDON, ON.
Location: LONDON, ON.
February 16th, 2007, 08:57 PM
Sign me up man! Ought to be an easy degree to get when I do get to University!
Quoting CanadianMatt
I agree. There was even a story of Harvard offering degrees in the Study of Gaming and People who game now. ...What is this world coming to....
Sign me up man! Ought to be an easy degree to get when I do get to University!
