On Death and Dying

by By Sarah Weld | June 3, 2015

While some of their classmates traveled to Rome, Utah, and Brazil for Jan Term, one group of students stayed on campus to confront what so many Americans are afraid to speak of—death. Taught by Professors Emily Hause and Grete Stenersen for the sixth year, the Death and Dying class asks students to explore the physical aspects of death, the stages of grief and loss, and religious and cultural perspectives on dying. (A Jan Term class on death is not new to SMC—the late John Dennis taught one for many years.)

"Every year, some student will spontaneously say, 'It's called Death and Dying but it's actually a course about life,'" Stenersen said. "For me, it's very life-affirming to teach this class every year."

Students visit a mortuary, a crematorium, an embalming center, write their own eulogies, and hear guest speakers on hospice and grief counseling.

Designed to combat what Hause called "the silence our society maintains around death," the class helps students talk about this universal and inevitable event.

"The class is not what I expected," said Kate Wilmarth ’16. "In society we tend to avoid it. Everyone grieves and goes through the same process, but no one talks about it."

"It's so taboo. If you're interested in it, people think it's weird,” said Giselle Avina '16, who is now interested in working in the death industry after visiting the mortuary. "It's kind of a comfort that everyone has to go through it. I now have a broader and deeper understanding."