Matters of Life and Death

Instructor: Robert J. Graham, Ph.D.

Required Texts
Institutional Statement of Mission
Catalog Description
Purpose
General Learning Objectives
Specific Behavioral Objectives
Topics to be Covered
Instructional Procesures
Assignments and Student Responsibilities
Evaluation
Suggested Reading List
Students with Disabilities

Required Texts:

Becker, Ernest. 1973. The Denial of Death. New York: Free Press.

Bregman, Lucy. 1999. Beyond Silence & Denial" Death and Dying Reconsidered. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Cather, Willa. 1992 [1927]. Death Comes for the Archbishop. New York: Everyman's Library.

Other readings including journal articles to be assigned.

Institutional Statement of Mission

Lee University is a co-educational Christian university whose basic purpose is to provide in a Christian environment learning experiences designed to develop within its students the knowledge, appreciation, understanding, ability and skill which will prepare them for responsible living in the modern world. A personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the controlling perspective from which the educational enterprise is undertaken. Education in this environment and from this perspective is viewed as an integration of truth as revealed in the Holy Scriptures and truth as investigated and discovered in the Arts and Sciences.

Catalog Description

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to study issues related to death and dying. Aspects of death and dying will be examined through the lenses of different disciplines and cultures.

Purpose

The purpose of this course is to give students a deeper understanding of death and dying and to broaden their perspectives. An interdisciplinary approach will be used to examine the social, psychological, physical, legal, spiritual, religious, and ethical aspects of death and dying. Attention will also be given to the subjective and practical aspects and to national demographic patterns.

General Learning Objectives

This course is designed to:

1. Provide an understanding of the nature of death and dying and the wide range of issues surrounding them.
2. To better understand the Christian perspective on death and dying and how it relates to other religious traditions.
3. To present some of the range of meanings people associate with death and dying.
4. To facilitate understanding of some of the ethical and moral dilemmas of death and dying, particularly as they are affected by technological advances.
5. To encourage self-reflection on mortality.
6. To demonstrate the significance of death and dying for all people and how this is reflected in our popular culture and values.
7. To inculcate critical thinking by encouraging personal reflection on issues of life and death and their meaning to the individual.
   

Specific Behavioral Objectives

After completion of this course the student should be able to:

1. Identify and describe the various aspects of funerary and burial rituals in the major religious and cultural traditions.
2. Describe the grieving process and some of the ways this is exhibited.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical and moral issues surrounding death and dying.
4. Know the legal options available to those who are dying.
5. Think about the significance and certainty of their own death and thereby highlight the significance of their life.
6. Recognize how beliefs about death are reflected in all aspects of our material and non-material culture.
   

Topics to be Covered

1. Causes of death and how these vary by age, race, gender, country, and time period
2. When does death occur?
3. Funeral practices
4. Cultural interpretations of death
5. Death in popular culture including art, literature, and film
6. Religious perspectives on death
7. Subjective accounts of dying and grieving
8. Grief and coping
9. Near-death experiences
10. Euthanasia and suicide
11. Hospice
12. Legal aspects of death and dying

Instructional Procedures

1. Lectures
2. Class discussion
3. Group project collaboration and class presentation
4. Videos
5. Field trips

Assignments and Student Responsibilities

Each student is expected to:

1. Successfully pass the examinations
2. Read and discuss common text materials
3. Individual research and analytical paper
4. Collaborative group project (Graduate students only)
   

Evaluation

The final grade for the course will be determined on the following basis:

1. For graduate students:
   1. Mid-term examination 25%
   2. Final examination 25%
   3. Collaborative group project and report 10%
   4. Funeral plan 15%
   5. Individual term paper 25%

   
   The following grading scale applies: A = Excellent (90-100%), B = Good (80-89%), C = Satisfactory (70-79%), and F = Failing (less than 70%).

2. For undergraduate students:
   1. Mid-term examination 25%
   2. Final examination 25%
   3. Funeral plan 15%
   4. Individual term paper 25%
   5. Participation 10%

   
   The following grading scale applies: A = Excellent (90-100%), B = Good (80-89%), C = Satisfactory (70-79%), D = Unsatisfactory (60-69%), and F = Failing (less than 60%).

Suggested Reading List

Aries, Philippe and Helen Weaver. 1981. The Hour of Our Death. New York: Oxford University Press.

Attig, Thomas. 1996. How We Grieve: Relearning the World. New York: Oxford University Press.

Becker, Carl B. 1995. "A Philosopher's View of Near-Death Research." Journal of Near-Death Studies 14.

Becker, Ernest. 1973. The Denial of Death. New York: Free Press.

Bregman, Lucy. 1992. Death in the Midst of Life: Perspectives on Death from Christianity and Depth Psychology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Bregman, Lucy. 1999. Beyond Silence & Denial" Death and Dying Reconsidered. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Burnell, George M. 1993. Final Choices: To Live or to Die in an Age of Medical Technology. New York: Insight Books.

Cather, Willa. 1992 [1927]. Death Comes for the Archbishop. New York: Everyman's Library.

Charlton, R. 1996. "Medical Education--Addressing the Needs of the Dying Child." Palliative Medicine 10:240-246.

Cox-Chapman, Mally. 1995. The Case for Heaven: Near-Death Experiences as Evidence of the Afterlife. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Duda, Deborah. 1987. Coming Home: A Guide to Dying at Home with Dignity. New York: Aurora Press.

Durkheim, Emile. 1966 [1951]. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Translated by Spaulding, John A.
Simpson, George. New York: The Free Press.

Ehrlich, I. 1975a. "The Deterrence Effect of Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death." American Economic Review 65:397-417.

Ehrlich, I. 1975b. "Deterrence: Evidence and Inference." Yale Law Journal 85:209-227.

Fulton, Robert. 1994. Death and Identity. Charles Press.

Gerbner, George. 1980. "Death in Prime Time: Notes on the Symbolic Functions of Dying in the Mass Media." Annals 447:64-70.

Guroian, Vigen. 1996. Life's Living Toward Dying: A Theological and Medical-Ethical Study. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Gutierrez, Gustavo. 1973. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Hauerwas, Stanley. 1990. God, Medicine, and Suffering. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Hillerman, Anthony. 1973. Dance Hall of the Dead. New York: Avon Books.

Hughes, Marylou. 1995. Bereavement and Support: Healing in a Group Environment. Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis.

Iserson, Kenneth V. 1994. Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies? Tucson, AZ: Galen Press.

Jones, Constance. 1997. R.I.P: The Complete Book of Death and Dying. Harper-Collins.

Kagawa-Singer, M. 1998. "The Cultural Context of Death Rituals and Mourning Practices." Oncological Nursing Forum 25:1752-1756.

Kamerman, Jack B. 1988. Death in the Midst of Life: Social and Cultural Influences on Death, Grief and Mourning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Katz, Steven T. 1994. The Holocaust in Historical Context. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kazanjian, MA. 1997. "The Spiritual and Psychological Explanations for Loss Experience." Hospice Journal 12:17-27.

Kearl, Michael C. 1989. Endings: A Sociology of Death and Dying. New York: Oxford University Press.

Koch, Edward. 1985. "Death and Justice." New Republic April 15:12-15.

Kolf, June Cerza. 1989. How Can I Help?: Reaching Out to Someone Who is Grieving. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Koon, Helene Wickham. 1983. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Death of a Salesman: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kramer, Kenneth. 1988. The Sacred Art of Dying: How World Religions Understand Death. New York: Paulist Press.

Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. 1969. On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy, and Their Own Families. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. 1986. Death: The Final Stage of Growth. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Kunz, P. R. and J. Summers. 1979-80. "A Time to Die: A Study of the Relationships of Birthdays and Time of Death." Omega 10:281-289.

Kushner, Harold S. 1989. When Bad Things Happen to Good People. New York: Schockten Books.

Larson, Edward J. 1998. A Different Death: Euthanasia & the Christian Tradition. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.

Miller, Henry. 1960. The Wisdom of the Heart. W.W. Norton Company.

Mitford, Jessica. 1963. The American Way of Death. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, Inc.

O'Gorman, S. M. 1998. "Death and Dying in Contemporary Society: An Evaluation of Current Attitudes and the Rituals Associated with Death and Dying and their Relevance to Recent Understandings of Health and Healing." Journal of Advanced Nursing 27:1127-1135.

Rothman, David J. 1991. Strangers at the Bedside: A History of How Law and Bioethics Transformed Medical Decision Making. New York: Basic Books.

Rothman, Sheila M. 1995. Living in the Shadow of Death: Tuberculosis and the Social Experience of Illness in American History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Santrock, John W. 1995. Life-Span Development. Madison, WI: WCB Brown & Benchmark Publishers.

Severson, Richard James. 1995. Time, Death, and Eternity: Reflecting on Augustine's Confessions in Light of Heidegger's Being and Time. Metuchen: American Theological Seminary and the Scarecrow Press.

Shneidman. 1980. Death: Current Perspectives. Mayfield.

Smith, David W. E. 1993. Human Longevity. New York: Oxford University Press.

Smith, Harold Ivan. 1996. Grieving the Death of a Friend. Minneapolis: Augsburg.

Soder-Alderfer, Kay. 1994. With Those Who Grieve: Twenty Grief Survivors Share Their Stories of Loss, Pain, and Hope. Lion Publishers.

Spilka, Bernard, John Spangler, and M. Priscilla Rea. 1983. "Religion and Death: The Clerical Perspective." Journal of Religion and Health 20:299-306.

Stark, Rodney, Daniel Doyle, and Jess Rushing. 1983. "Beyond Durkheim: Religion and Suicide." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 22:120-131.

Tart, Charles T. 1998. "Six Studies of Out-of-Body Experiences." Journal of Near-Death Studies 17.

The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. 1996. Dignity and Dying: A Christian Appraisal. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Walling, H. W. 1998. "Shuffling Off this Mortal Coil: A Shakespearean Perspective on Death and Dying." West Journal of Medicine 169:390-395.

Waters, Brent. 1996. Dying and Death: A Resource for Christian Reflection. Cleveland, OH: United Church Press.

Watterlond, Michael. 1983. "The Holy Ghost People." Science 4:50-57.

Webb, Marilyn. 1997. The Good Death: The New American Search to Reshape the End of Life. Bantam/Doubleday.

Whitfield, Barbara Harris. 1995. Spiritual Awakenings: Insights of the Near-Death Experience and Other Doorways to Our Soul. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications.

Wilcox, S.G. and M. Sutton. 1981. Understanding Death and Dying: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Sherman Oaks, CA: Alfred.

Worden, J. William. 1996. Children and Grief: When a Parent Dies. New York: Guilford Press.

Students with Disabilities

Lee University is committed to the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, as defined in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. If you think you may qualify for these accommodations, notify your instructor immediately. Students may also contact the Office of Academic Support or the College of Education.