MHS 3150
How do we and should we understand and respond to death, dying, and bereavement in America? This course explores our inheritance of attitudes, vocabularies, social practices, and institutions that cultivate and constrain responses to the dying and the dead with an emphasis on practices of care. Influential texts and core concepts across a range of disciplines will be introduced and used to analyze and reflect on multiple mediations of death in contemporary society. The class combines theoretical readings, lectures, discussion, analytical exercises, and experiential components. Students will also volunteer at a local hospice agency and keep a journal analyzing their experiences in light of course materials, themes, and concepts