20FA-PHIL-013-3764 - Perspectives on Death & Dying
PHILOSOPHY 013—PERSPECTIVES ON DEATH AND DYING
Section 3764
CANVASZOOM 3:30-6:35 PM WEDNESDAY
Dr. James Waddell, Instructor
jwaddell@collegeofthedesert.edu
Phone: 760-346-8041 ext. 5900
CANVAS OFFICE Hours: Tuesday: 11:00-12:00 pm
QUOTES TO REMEMBER:
“I’m not afraid of death: I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
Woody Allen
"But no one dies in the right place
Or in the right hour
And everyone dies sooner than his time
And before he reaches home."
Reza Baraheni
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while we are still alive….
Tupac
"I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great."
Willa Cather
SPECIAL NEEDS:
If you have a physical, psychiatric/emotional, medical, or learning disability that may impact your ability to carry out assigned course work, I urge you to contact the staff in the Office of Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) at 760-773-2534. DSPS will review your concerns and determine, with you, what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential. Please notify me if you are having problems getting the assistance you need.
- With new COVID-19 measures, it’s now easier than ever for eligible California community college students to sign up and receive FREE money every month from CalFresh to help buy groceries. The average eligible student receives $150 each month and it only takes a couple of minutes to apply. Call 1-877-847-3663 (FOOD) or click here to fill out an application.
TEXT:
The Last Dance: Encountering Death & Dying, Lynne Ann DeSpelder and Albert Lee Strickland, McGraw Hill (Any edition)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The study of the phase of life that is death is concerned with questions that have their roots at the center of human experience. These questions are often avoided as we go about the process of living our lives, for several reasons: They are painful; they invoke some, perhaps deeply seated, fears about the end of life; they lead us into a place of “the unknown”; and, often, we do not care to contemplate how our own death will occur. This course will highlight some of those main questions, in order that our understanding will increase and, perhaps, lead us together on a journey of personal discovery.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:
- Evaluate the conjecture of post-mortem survival.
- Describe attitudes and practices about death and dying.
- Describe religious, philosophical, and popular beliefs about death and dying.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
- To unearth some of the reasons we think about death and dying, and to explicate some of the questions we ask about this “ultimate” phase of our lives.
- To discuss attitudes toward death and dying; to learn how socio-cultural forces influence our concepts of death.
- To study cross-cultural funerary customs and traditions which will highlight how death is perceived around the globe.
- To take a closer look at how healthcare systems manage this phase of life.
- To study medical ethics and the moral issues surrounding death, including how medical personnel define and determine death.
- To study how people cope with life-threatening illnesses and make their own end-of-life decisions.
- To understand how survivors understand and cope with the experience of loss.
- To understand a child’s view and attitude toward, death.
- To discuss some issues and perspectives surrounding suicide.
- To understand the impact of the risks of death in the modern world, and their aftermath: Disasters; violence; war; terrorism; epidemics and other life-threatening illnesses.
- To discuss beliefs about life after death.
- To discuss how we live with the prospect of death and dying.
- To understand how professionals in our society handle death.
STUDENT RESPOSIBILITIES:
- You must stay current with the readings and videos. All Assignments are based partly on them.
- You will be responsible for participating in class activities. A good percentage of your grade will include class participation. Bring pertinent questions and opinions to Zoom classes.
- Respect for your fellow classmates and your instructor is paramount in fostering a safe environment for learning and lively Zoom discussion.
- If you need to miss a Zoom class you will need to notify me as soon as possible at the above e-mail address in order to be excused. Failure to do so will result in an unexcused absence. After TWO unexcused absences I may drop you. If you leave early, you may be marked absent.
- If you have signed up for this class you need to commit yourself to logging in on time. Tardy attendance will be calculated in your class participation grade.
The following conduct shall constitute good cause for discipline, including but not limited to the removal, suspension, or expulsion of a student:
Disruptive behavior, violating the rights of other students, willful disobedience, habitual profanity or vulgarity, or the open and persistent defiance of the authority of, or persistent abuse of District personnel.
It is the student’s responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer participating or attending. It is at the instructor’s discretion to drop a student for excessive absences or non-participation any time during the allowed drop/withdrawal period for the course. Students who remain enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline, as stated in the class schedule, must receive an evaluative letter grade in the class. (A ‘W’ grade cannot be assigned during final grading for students still appearing on the roster.)
CLASS ETIQUETTE:
To create a Learning Community the following etiquette is expected. Failure to follow this etiquette may result in your being dropped from the course or failed.
- Focus your attention on the instructor, guest speaker or student speaking to the class.
- Avoid distracting side conversations Mute your microphone when interuptions occur.
- If you need to wear sunglass for a hangover or medical condition, let me know ahead. Otherwise, do not wear them.
- In short, be considerate and give your attention to the class.
INSTRUCTOR'S RESPONSIBILITY:
- I will strive to provide a safe and stimulating learning environment.
- I will grade your papers and return them to you in a timely manner.
- I will be available whenever I can to help you or to answer questions.
- I will respect you as an individual, and I will respect your opinions and convictions regarding religion and spirituality.
EXAMINATIONS AND GRADING:
Assignment due dates are cited in the CANVAS Syllabus and Assignments sections. It is your responsibility to make sure you understand the dates. Your grade will be gleaned from the Activities cited below. You will be amassing points toward 600. Papers must be turned in on the announced due date. Late papers, if accepted, will be down graded.
See Assignments on Canvas for list of assignments and due dates.
GRADING SCALE:
Points on Individual Assignments Points on Total Semester Assignments
A=100-90 A=600-540
B=89-80 B=539-480
C=79-70 C=479-420
D=69-60 D=419-360
F=59-0 F=359-0
CHEATING/PLAGIARISM Students are expected to be honest and ethical at all times in the pursuit of academic goals. Students who are found to be in violation of the Student Conduct Standards and Procedures will receive a grade of zero on the assignment, quiz, or exam in question and may be referred for disciplinary action in accordance with Student Disciplinary Procedures.
************************************************************************************
NOT PART OF SYLLABUS
INFORMATION ONLY-SUBJECT TO CHANGE
CLASS AND READING SCHEDULE
READ CHAPTER 1 BEFORE FIRST CLASS MEETING AND THIS POWER POINT SUMMARY
SEPT 2: ATTITUDES TOWARD DEATH: A CLIMATE OF CHANGE
CHAPTER 1
OBJECTIVES:
1. to gain understanding of course's objectives and assignments.
2. To identify historical antecedents of current attitudes toward death.
3. To describe how attitudes toward death are expressed in the mass media and through language, music, literature, the visual arts, and humor.
4. To define thanatology (the study of death) and give examples of its various dimensions.
5. To list and analyze factors that have contributed to a lessened familiarity with death.
6. To examine common assumptions about death.
7. To explore one’s own losses and attitudes toward death.
“Dead” word Greeting (10 minutes) 3:30
Course to die for, tired, beats, end, against, on, reckoning, pan, heat, stop, ahead, wood, lock, center, ahead, drunk, head….
YouTube: Dead is Dead:Euphemism and the power of words (15:33)
Overview of Course (30 minutes) 3:40
10 Myths About Death (2:23)
Informal summary of chapters
Review Syllabus and Assignments (60 minutes) 4:10
Break (15 minutes) 5:10
Getting to Know Each Other (75 minutes) 5:25
Share a Death Experience:
- Tell your name.
- Tell about a death experience:
Who died?
Your relationship?
What stage of life were you: child, adolescent, adult?
How old was the dead person?
Mode of death? (natural, accident, suicide, homicide)
Manner of death? (cancer, heart disease, gunshot, overdose, etc.)
Where? (home, hospital, nursing home, car, swimming pool, etc.)
How did you learn about the death?
Your feelings then? (sadness, anger, relief, guilt, etc.)
Your feelings now?
ADD CODES
Read Chapter 2 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
SEPT. 9: LEARNING ABOUT DEATH: SOCIALIZATION
CHAPTER 2
OBJECTIVES:
1. To understand death through the life course.
2. To identify the components of a mature concept of death.
3. To describe the psychosocial and cognitive models of development and to demonstrate their value in comprehending a child’s understanding of death.
4. To identify the sociocultural factors that influence a child’s understanding of and attitude toward death.
5. To explain how various agents of socialization influence the understanding of death.
6. To appraise the impact of life experiences and environment on a child's understanding of death.
7. To analyze teachable moments as an aspect of socialization about death.
8. To recognize the impact of the death of a companion animal.
Greeting and Review: Reality of Death, Death is a phase of Life (10 minutes) 3:30
Add Class: I need Student ID#
Attendance generated by Zoom. (Identifies amount of time you participated.)
Office Hour, Tuesdays 10-11 am: Voluntary for questions, concerns, etc.
Continue Introductions (30 minutes) 3:40
Quesnel PARTY Program Tour of Funeral Home
(30 minutes) 4:10
BREAK (10 minutes) 4:40
Group Discussion: (60 minutes) 4:50
(Each Group choose spokesperson to report to class)
1. How would you like to die?
- What caused your death?
- Was you death natural, an accident, suicide, homicide?
- How old were you at the time of your death?
- Where are you?
- Who is there?
- Are you conscious in the last moments of dying?
- Any other information you would like to share?
2. How would you like NOT to die?
Sames questions as above.
BREAK (10 minutes) 5:50
UNDERSTANDING DEATH (30 minutes) 6:00
YouTube: Signs of Approaching Death EwandaAdams
(3:27 minutes)
YouTube: What Happens After You Die? (Unvieled) (6:22)
YouTube: 10 Strange Things That Happen After You Die (4:42)
Discussion: What is Your Concept of Death? (30 minutes) 6:00
- What is your concept/understanding of death?
- How did parents, religion, television, movies, etc, help develop your concept of Death?
- Has your concept changed over the years?
- What is your assessment of the text's statement that a Mature Understanding of Death has the following components:
- A) Universality
- B) Irreversibility
- C) Non-functionality of all life defining functions and capabilities
- D) Causality: internal or external
Personal Mortality: “I will die.”
Non-empirical: Belief or non-belief in an Afterlife5
- Do you believe companion animals have the same death as humans? Do animals have souls?
How to Deal With the Loss of a Pet (10:18)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31dBSLJ2dhg&t=16s
WRAP UP 6:20
Read Chapter 3 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
SEPT. 16: PERSPECTIVES ON DEATH: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CHAPTER 3
HUMOR AND CEMETERY MONUMENTS PAPER DUE
OBJECTIVES
1. To define various social structures.
2. To become acquainted with the diversity of death-related rituals and beliefs found in various cultures.
3. To assess the correspondences among various cultures relative to death-related rituals and beliefs.
4. To describe the historical changes in death-related beliefs and practices in Western culture.
5. To recognize cultural diversity within the United States.
6. To analyze the impact of various beliefs and practices and to assess their value for survivors.
7. To assess the contributions of subcultures in understanding contemporary death customs and attitudes with particular attention to the cultural diversity of Hawaii.
Greetings (10 minutes) 3:30
Perspectives on Death: Historical and Cultural (40 minutes) 3:40
Historical Perspectives
PowerPoint: Chapter 3, Slides 1-21
Traditional Cultures
Native American:
Coyote and the Origin of Death
African:
African Mythology: The Origin Of Death
Western Culture
- Deathbed scenes
- Burial customs
- Dance of death/ Danse macabre
- Death masks
- Invisible death?
BREAK (10 minutes). 4:20
Group Discussion: Cultural Viewpoints (60 minutes) 4:30
Group Review of Chapter 3 sections and PowerPoints (20 minutes)
Eight Discussion Groups: (10 minutes each)
(Each Group Choose a Spokesperson to report to the class.)
Native American
1. Identify key features associated with Native American attitudes toward death and dying.
2. Contrast Hopi and Cocopa funeral rituals. Decide which is more positive in your opinion and explain why.
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, pff. 108)
African
Explain the meanings of the LoDagaa death ceremonies including the practices surrounding mourning restraints, the mourning companion, and grave digging. Compare the LoDagaa rituals with ours.
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, pff. 112)
Mexican-Hispanic
Analyze the apparent ambivalence of Mexican attitudes toward death as revealed in customs surrounding the Day of the Dead.
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, pff. 117)
Asian
“Generally speaking, Asian cultures value interdependence and affiliation over independence and individualism. Harmony, a quality manifested in proper conduct, is especially important in interpersonal relationships.” Show how this Harmony is reflected in Asian death practices relating to:
1. Ancestor respect (Filial piety)
2. Feng-shul’s connecting life to death
3. Deposition of the body
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, pff. 122)
Jewish
Describe Jewish beliefs and practices regarding death
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, P. 129)
Celtic
Describe the Celtic view of the Otherworld. How is the Celtic view related to Halloween?
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, pff. 129)
Arab-Muslim
1. Explain why the terms “Arab” and “Muslim” are not synonymous.
2. Describe Muslim beliefs and practices regarding death
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, p. 132)
Hawaii-Oceanian
Using the cultural diversity in Hawaii, provide examples of enduring traditional death customs.
(THE LAST DANCE, 10TH EDITION, pff. 132)
BREAK (10 minutes) 5:10
Group Discussions continued (20 minutes) 5:20
YouTube (50 minutes) 5:40 Strange Rituals: Last Rites (50 minutes)
Read Chapter 4 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
SEPT. 23: DEATH SYSTEMS: MORTALITY AND SOCIETY
CHAPTER 4
OBJECTIVES
1. To identify the components and impact of the death system.
2. To identify and explain the cultural standards by which homicidal acts are judged.
3. To define homicide and distinguish various categories and types.
4. To evaluate the effects of capital punishment.
5. To develop an alternative model for punishment,
6. To identify policies and practices that promote social justice.
Greetings (10 minutes) 3:30
THE DEATH SYSTEM AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Introductions: ELIZABETH Bellamy, Esq. and The Hon.Page Bellamy
Capital Punishment[1] (2).pptx
The components of a death system include people, places, times, objects, and symbols.
* Community standards of morality and justice play major roles in determining how an act of killing is assessed by a society and its judicial system. The killer’s motivation and intent, along with the relationship between killer and victim, are among the factors considered in assessing whether a homicide is lawful or unlawful and, if unlawful, whether it constitutes murder.
* Capital punishment has a twofold purpose; namely, to punish the offender and deter potential offenders. Whether the death penalty serves this purpose is a matter of debate; many people believe that it is inconsistent for a society to try to prevent murder by itself engaging in killing.
After reading Chapter 4, pff. 147-151, be prepared to discuss the followong 4 items:
1. Identify the arguments for and against capital punishment.
2. Explain how differential punishments for homicide may be based on the relationship of the killer to the victim.
3. List the pros and cons of capital punishment as you see them and assess your ideas.
4. Are there alternatives? What are they?
WATCH:
A LESSON BEFORE DYING (Parts 1-5)
Lesson Before Dying 1
BREAK (15minutes)
Discussion of Film
Michael McCarter has agreed to share this link about Life Without Parole It is called "Toe Tag Parole": To Live and Die on Yard A." May need HBO to watch.
https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/toe-tag-parole-to-live-and-die-on-yard-a
Read Chapter 5 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
SEPT. 30: HEALTH CARE: PATIENTS, STAFF, AND INSTITUTIONS
CHAPTER 5
OBJECTIVES
1. To list the three main components of a health care system and explain how their interrelationship influences patient care.
2. To describe the relationship between health care financing and the options available for treatment.
3. To identify factors that influence the doctor-patient relationship and that affect the goal of achieving clear communication.
4. To summarize the types of health care for terminally ill and dying patients and to differentiate between their functions, purposes, and methods.
5. To assess the role of home care in the overall health care system.
6. To identify the challenges involved in elder care.
7. To describe key points in the evolution of trauma and emergency care.
8. To identify the features that make death notification difficult and suggest helpful strategies for delivering bad news.
9. To explain the factors influencing the onset of stress among caregivers and to identify ways of alleviating such stress.
10. To identify psychosocial factors influencing one’s relationship with a loved one who is dying.
Greetings (10 minutes) 3:30
Death Detectives: The L A County Coroner (50 minutes) 3:40
BREAK (10 minutes) 4:30
VIVIAN LAUER-SEGUR: CAREGIVING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED6upzp3reo Glen Campbell overview 2011
OPTIONAL:
Top Best Documentary National Geographic: Secrets of the Body Farm (3:42 minutes)
The Body Farm | National Geographic
Worlds Apart video
Worlds Apart: A Series on Cross-Cultural Health Care; Part 1
Worlds Apart: A Series on Cross-Cultural Health Care; Part 2
Worlds Apart: A Series on Cross-Cultural Health Care; Part 3
Worlds Apart: A Series on Cross-Cultural Health Care; Part 4
Read Chapter 6 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
OCT. 7: END OF LIFE ISSUES AND DECISIONS
CHAPTER 6
OBJECTIVES:
1. To explain how the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice apply to medical ethics.
2. To assess the challenges of informed consent and self-determination.
3. To evaluate the ethical issues involved in physician-assisted death and euthanasia.
4. To define the Rule of Double Effect.
5. To explain how issues regarding competency affect ethics decisions in cases involving infants or comatose patients.
6. To appraise one’s own death in terms of advance directives.
7. To understand the various designations (DNR, CPR, CMO) to inform medical staff of one’s desires.
8. To identify the types, content, and purposes of wills.
9. To explain the processes of inheritance and probate and to evaluate the consequences of dying intestate.
10. To assess the value to survivors of a comprehensive estate plan.
11. To be aware of end-of-life issues and decisions.
GREETINGS (10 minutes) 3:30
HOW WOULD YOU WANT TO DIE? (60 minutes) 3:40
Your Last Days (Group Discussion)
At present, most people die in an institutional setting (hospital or nursing home). If you were to die of a terminal illness, what would you like your last days to be like? Specifically,
-
Who would you want there?
-
Would you be hooked to a machine?
-
What would you want done for you?
-
Would you want to be on pain medication?
-
If you have an incurable and irreversable condition that will result in your death in a relatively short time, would you want your life prolonged?
-
Would you want to donate your organs?
-
How would you like to have people show that they care?
Closest Relative's Last Days (Group Discussion)
Your closest relative is in a comatose state and is hooked up to a life-sustaining machine. The doctors say that there is no hope. If it were totally your decision to let your relative continue to live like this or ask to have the machines turned off, what do you think you would do? Give the rationale for your decision.
BREAK (10 minutes) 4:40
ADVANCED MEDICAL DIRECTIVE WORKSHOP (60 minutes) 4:50
In this Workshop you will draft your Advanced Medical Directive. First watch the video on the health Care Tools available to you. Then, if you have not yet downloaded the Advanced Medical Directive form, download it.
Advance Directives: Important Healthcare Tools for Supporting You and Your Family
Download the California Hospital Association 3-1 Form: https://www.calhospital.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/form_3-1_-_english.pdf?1554912974 to draft in class your own Advanced Medical Directive.
If you already have an Advanced Medical Directive, you may use it in place of the California Hospital form. Check to see that your form covers the issues identified in the textbook. If the form does not address all the issues identified in pages 233-240 of the textbook, add additional pages.
REMINDER: This assignment is an academic exercise designed to inform you about the issues and options facing a competent person about choices for medical treatment should she or he become unable to make such decisions or communicate them at some time in the future.
If you wish to use the form as your Advanced Medical Directive, you will need to follow the policies and procedures of the state in which you reside.
Read Chapter 7 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
OCT 14: FACING DEATH: LIVING WITH LIFE THREATENING ILLNESS
CHAPTER 7
"Life is hard. After all, it kills you." Katherine Hepburn
OBJECTIVES
1. To recognize cross-cultural issues related to medical ethics.
2. To list representative personal and social meanings of life-threatening illness.
3. To describe and assess patterns of coping with life-threatening illness.
4. To identify and assess treatment options and issues for life-threatening illness.
5. To assess the benefits and risks of complementary and alternative therapies.
6. To summarize essential strategies for pain management.
7. To distinguish among various dying trajectories.
8. To explain the factors influencing the social role of the dying patient and to create an ideal model.
9. To acknowledge the feelings of being with someone who is dying.
WILL/LIVING TRUST WORKSHOP (45 minutes)
Will Versus Living Trust? (
Download either the Will or Living Trust Form to draft your testament.
WILL FORM https://freedownloads.net/?s=last+will+and+testament+forms
LIVING TRUST FORM https://freedownloads.net/living-trust/ca-trusts/california-revocable-living-trust-form/
DIRECTIONS: Using one of the forms cited above, draft your own will or living trust.
- Watch the following video on the difference between a Will and Living Trust.
- If you have not downloaded a Will or Living Trust form, do it now.
Overview of Wills, Estates, and Probate
Losing a loved one is a sad and difficult time for family, relatives, and friends. In addition, those left behind must often figure out how to transfer or inherit property from the person who has died. The property that a person leaves behind when they die is called the “decedent’s estate.” The “decedent” is the person who died. Their “estate” is the property they owned when they died.To transfer or inherit property after someone dies, you must usually go to court. And dealing with the courts and the property of someone who has died is very complicated. Sometimes, however, family or relatives may be able to transfer property from someone who has died without going to court.It is not always easy to tell whether you need to go to court or qualify to use a different procedure. There are a lot of new terms in these types of cases that you should know.
This section will give you some general information to help you understand what your choices may be, but we still encourage you to talk to a lawyer to get specific answers about your situation. You can usually pay the lawyer’s fees from the property in the case. What are the different ways an estate can be transferred after someone dies?It depends. There are some ways that do not involve going to probate court. Here are some common examples: If a particular asset (like a retirement plan, life insurance policy, or a bank account) already has a named beneficiary, that asset goes to the beneficiary (or beneficiaries, if there are more than one) without going to court. If a house is owned by two or more people as joint tenants, the other owners have the right of survivorship, which means that they inherit the entire property in their name. Real estate sometimes can be transferred without court with a transfer-on-death deed (also called a beneficiary deed). Property in living trusts can be transferred without going to court. There are also some simplified procedures for estates that are under $166,250. Any portions of the estate that can’t be transferred more informally will likely have to be dealt with in probate court. How the estate is dealt with will partly depend on whether the decedent died with a will or without one.
What Is “Probate”?Probate means that there is a court case that deals with:
Deciding if a will exists and is valid;Figuring out who are the decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries; Figuring out how much the decedent’s property is worth; Taking care of the decedent’s financial responsibilities; andTransferring the decedent’s property to the heirs or beneficiaries. In a probate case, an executor (if there is a will) or an administrator (if there is no will) is appointed by the court as personal representative to collect the assets, pay the debts and expenses, and then distribute the remainder of the estate to the beneficiaries (those who have the legal right to inherit), all under the supervision of the court. The entire case can take between 9 months to 1 ½ years, maybe even longer.
First Steps in Dealing with an Estate When Someone Dies expand all collapse all
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Figure out who will be the estate representative.
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As estate representative, start gathering information and fulfilling your duties.
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Figure out who the heirs and beneficiaries are.
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Identify and make an inventory of the decedent’s property.
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Figure out the best transfer process for the assets.
If the form does not address all the issues identified in pages 241-253 of the textbook, add additional pages.
REMINDER:
This assignment is an academic exercise designed to inform you about the issues and options for estate planning. The assignment should not be considered legal advice. If you wish to use the form to create your Will or Living Trust, you will need to follow the policies and procedures of the state in which you reside. You are encouraged to seek legal advice from an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. After completing your form, submit it throught Canvas by 11:59, Sunday, October 23.
BREAK
Marjorie Williams, Kindred Hospice: Hospice Care (60 minutes)
Understanding_Hospice-Palliative-Care (1).ppt
BREAK
RIGHT TO DIE
Terminally Ill 29 Year Old to End Her Life (30 minutes)
Terminally ill 29-year-old to end her life
(3:04 minutes)
Brittany Maynard Takes Medicine To End Life | NBC Nightly News
How to Die in Oregon (15 minutes)
Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Now Legal In California
Optional
Medical Ethical Decision Exercise: (60 minutes) 5:30
3 Medical Ethical Principles:
Autonomy
Beneficence
Justice
Divide the class into 8 groups. Have each group imagine it is a hospital ethics committee composed of a hospital administrator, a doctor, a patient advocate from the community, and a member of the clergy. Together, they must make a judgment about whether a patient should receive life-sustaining treatment. Allow enough time for each participant to choose one of the roles and to begin identifying relevant concerns. Then distribute one of the following questions to each of the groups and instruct students to jointly arrive at answers. Encourage students to take strong stands based on the perspectives of their chosen roles. Allow 15 minutes for group discussion and then have each group report to and discuss its decision with the class.
- A 62-year-old patient who has suffered a heart attack is resuscitated and placed on a respirator. After 24 hours, an electroencephalogram (EEG) shows no brain activity. Should life support be withdrawn?
- An emergency medical team is called to the scene of a “man down” where they find a 75-year-old resident of a posh district in a major metropolitan city with no vital signs. Is this patient D.O.A., or should resuscitation efforts be started?
- An emergency medical team is called to the scene of a “man down” where they find a 75-year-old skid-row derelict with no vital signs. Is this patient D.O.A., or should resuscitation efforts be started?
- The patient is an anencephalic newborn (with a congenital malformation such that there is no development of the brain). The parents request that physicians withdraw intravenous feeding. Should the ethics committee consent to the parents’ request?
- The patient is a newborn with Down syndrome and intestinal blockage. The parents refuse to give their consent for surgery and request that physicians withdraw intravenous feeding. Should the ethics committee consent to the parents’ request?
- A patient dying of AIDS asks to be released from the hospital in order to return home and commit suicide. What is the hospital’s responsibility?
- A newborn is given no medical possibility of living longer than five to seven days because of a congenital, always fatal, condition. The adjacent incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit holds a newborn who will die within 48 hours without a heart transplant. Is it ethical to shorten the first infant’s life by a couple of days so that another child has a chance to live? Who should decide?
- A husband and wife are diagnosed, respectively, with Alzheimer’s and terminal cancer. They mutually decide on a suicide pact, desiring to die as they have lived for the previous six decades—together. Do they have the right to end their lives in this manner?
Read Chapter 8 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
OCT. 21: LAST RITES: FUNERALS AND BODY DISPOSITIONS
CHAPTER 8
OBJECTIVES:
- To describe the function of last rites and funeral rituals, including their psychosocial aspects.
- To identify social networks set up to identify online friends of a death.
- To examine the historical changes in American funeral rituals and to assess the relevance of criticism with respect to current professional practices.
- To describe practices and costs of various mortuary and cemetery options.
- To identify options for body disposition.
- To evaluate new directions in funerals and body disposition.
- To identify remembrance rituals and linking objects.
- To identify options for memorialization.
- To design a personally meaningful funeral ritual for oneself.
Greetings
JOHN CARANCI, Wiefels Cremation and Funeral Services. (60 minutes)
Class Discussion: Virtual Visit to a Mortuary
YouTube: Eco-Death Takeover (30 minutes)
10 Bizarre Funeral Rituals in the World (6:34)
10 Craziest Caskets (3:43)
Crypts, Coffins and Corpses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAeKqOPXSrc
Read Chapters 9-10 and the following PowerPoints for next class:
OCT 28: LOSS AND GRIEF
CHAPTERS 9-10
OBJECTIVES
- To define bereavement, grief, and mourning.
- To describe and evaluate the major models of grief.
- To describe the experience of grief.
- To list the somatic, perceptual, and emotional manifestations of grief and to assess its impact on morbidity and mortality.
- To evaluate the concept of complicated mourning.
- To explain the variables that influence grief.
- To list various coping strategies in bereavement and assess the value of each.
- To identify patterns of grieving and gender stereotypes.
- To identify how mode of death influences grief.
- To explain the relationship between social support and disenfranchised grief.
- To define unfinished business as it relates to grief and bereavement.
- To assess arguments for and against grief counseling and grief therapy.
- To assess how bereavement may provide an opportunity for growth.
Greetings
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Group Discussion (60 minutes)
To examine the concept of unfinished business, think of an important person in your live and imagine that if that person were to die tomorrow. Write responses to the following questions:
- What was the happiest moment you recall sharing?
- What was the saddest moment the two of you shared?
- What would you miss most?
- What do you wish you would have said to that person?
- What do you wish that person would have said to you?
- What would you have wanted to change in the relationship?
- What circumstances (time, place, event) do you expect will elicit the most painful memories?
Share your responses as a group.
PERSONAL UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Reflection (Not to turn in.)
Unfinished business can be an important issue for dying people. If you suddenly found that you had 24 hours to live, jot down on paper:
- What unfinished business would you attempt to complete?
- What is stopping you from completing your unfinished business now, without the threat of death?
Share with the class.
BREAK
Marjorie Williams, Grief Workshop 4:30 pm
BREAK
Discussion of Children's Grieving Paper
(Paper DUE Friday October 30)
The following video is not required, but you may want to watch it later to deepen your understanding of grief.
Read Chapter 11 and the following PowerPoints for next class:
NOV. 4: SURVIVORS: UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCE OF LOSS CHAPTER 11
OBJECTIVES
1. To identify the kinds of losses experienced in adulthood.
2. To identify factors associated with death and the college student.
3. To identify the factors influencing grief in response to the death of a friend.
4. To describe the factors influencing the response to the death of a parent.
5. To distinguish the characteristics of parental bereavement and to identify the types of support available.
6. To compare and contrast the emotional responses to childbearing loss; miscarriage, abortion, stillbirth, neonatal death, sudden infant death syndrome, and the loss of the “perfect” child.
7. To identify the factors influencing grief in response to the death of an older or adult child.
8. To describe the factors influencing spousal bereavement and to summarize the types of social support available.
9. To summarize the physiological and psychological changes that typically occur with aging.
Greetings (10 minutes) 3:30
Film: Lullaby (2 hours) 3:40
BREAK (10 minutes) 5:40
GROUP DISCUSSION: (45 minutes) 5: 50
- Using the textbook’s presentation on “The Social Role of a Dying Person” (pp. 289-292) examine Robert’s social actions as a dying person. In what ways do you think his behavior strengthened or weakened the family?
- Reflecting on the text’s “Being with Someone Who is Dying” ( pp. 292-293), evaluate the mother (Rachael), the son (Jonathan), and the daughter’s (Karen) behavior as Robert is dying.
- Also review the way young Meredith faces her own death. Is her process beneficial or dysfunctional?
- In what ways does the film support Earl A. Grollman’s belief:
Grief is not a disorder, a disease, or a sign of weakness.
It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity, …the price you pay
for love.
The only cure for grief is to grieve.
Read Chapter 12 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
NOV. 11: NO CLASS
NOV. 18: SUICIDE CHAPTER 12
LAST ARRANGEMENT PAPER DUE
OBJECTIVES:
- To examine the purposes of the psychology autopsy.
- To create a model of suicide intervention.
- To plan a suicide post-intervention strategy.
- To identify ways to help a person who is in suicidal crisis.
Greetings (10 minutes) 3:30
Introduction to the topic of suicide (PowerPoint) (20 minutes) 3:40
Have students respond to the following statements, indicating true or false and explaining the reasons for their answers.
- People who talk about suicide do not commit suicide.
- Improvement in a suicidal person means the danger has passed.
- Once a suicide risk, always a suicide risk.
- Suicide is inherited.
- Suicide affects only a specific group or class of people.
- Suicidal behavior is insane.
- Suicidal people are fully intent on dying.
- The motive for suicide is always clearly evident.
Discussion Directions:
Assume that you are confronted by a person who tells you he or she is contemplating suicide. What information you would like to obtain and discuss your plan of action for responding to this individual.
Read Chapter 13 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
NOV. 25: RISKS, PERILS, AND TRAUMATIC DEATHS
CHAPTER 13
OBJECTIVES:
- To recognize the local and global impact of disasters.
- To identify personal and social strategies for coping with and reducing the impact of disasters.
- To identify and explain the impact of Covid 19 and other emerging diseases.
- To describe a healthy response in coping with risks and perils in the modern world
Discussion: New lessons from the present Coronavirus Pandemic
Purpose of Discussion:
Read Chapter 14 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
DEC.2: BEYOND DEATH / AFTER LIFE
CHAPTER 14
"I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge. At any rate, that is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great."
Willa Cather
OBJECTIVES
1. To compare and contrast the views of immortality in the Judaic, Hellenistic, Christian, Islamic, Asian and secular traditions.
2. To compare and contrast Eastern religious views of life after death.
3. To describe the consolation and comfort associated with religion.
4. To identify at least three secular alternatives to religious beliefs about immortality and the afterlife.
5. To describe the main features of near-death experiences.
6. To analyze the alternative interpretations of near-death experiences.
7. To summarize death-related experiences associated with dreams and psychedelic experiences.
8. To demonstrate how beliefs about what follows death influence a person’s understanding of death and how they evidence themselves in choices regarding care of the dying as well as in daily life.
To describe the consolation and comfort associated with a Christian concept of the resurrection of the body in a heaven or hell afterlife.
To examine secular Existentialism's alternatives to religious beliefs about immortality and the afterlife.
Immortality Exercise (20 minutes)
What do you believe about immortality? How did you arrive at your belief?
There are many ways of thinking about immortality. Besides various religious and parapsychological ideas, immortality can be associated with achievements such as writing books, performing human services, or otherwise contributing to society. Many believe that children are a form of immortality.
Directions:
After reading Chapter 14, pp. 552-554, and watching the following videos, discuss Sartre's criticism of a belief in an afterlife and his claim that religion's is attempting to replace each individual's responsibility for her/his life with the promise that , if you obey religious rules, you will have a pleasant afterlife. If you do not follow the rules, you will burn in Hell.
Make sure in your responce to demonstrate you have done the reading and watched the videos.
Origin of Western Beliefs in an Afterlife: (40 minutes) 9:40
Zoroastrian and Hellenistic Beliefs
Ahura Mazda (2 sons) Adults=40, Child=15
Jewish (p. 534), Christian (p. 538), and Islamic (p. 542)
Group Discussions: Assign one of the religions to each Group
to identify its basic beliefs in an afterlife and ideas it shares with Zoroastrian and Hellenistic thought.
Michael Saywitz: Judaic Views of Death and Afterlife (40 minutes) 10:20
Hebrew tradition views the human person as an undivided psychophysical entity;
it is not as if the soul inhabits a body, but rather that the body has life.
“Our present existence is of God; if there is life hereafter, it will also be God’s gift.
Why be anxious about death? What matters is to live righteously."
Secular Traditions: Humanism, Positivism, and Existentialism
BREAK (10 minutes) 11:00
Differences in Thoughts (20 minutes 11:10
West: Either/Or Unchanging Self/Linear
East: Both/And Change/Circle
Objectives:
-
To compare and contrast Eastern religious views of life after death.
- compare Eastern concepts of the soul and non-soul to your own beliefs.
Directions:
After reading Chapter 14, pp. 543-567 and watching the following videos, in no more than two pages, compare the Hindu belief of transmigration of the soul to another life as a human, animal, insect, etc., and the Buddhist belief of rebirth of energy back into the Universe. Which belief makes more sense to you? Why?
Only upload your paper to Canvas in Mircosoft Word (doc, docx, or pdf). Canvas does not accept Google.docs. Do not send through email.
Make sure in your responce to demonstrate you have done the reading and watched the videos.
Video: Reincarnation Documentary 2019 (50 minutes) ?????
Break (10 minutes) 11:20
Discussion: (25 minutes) 11;30
Assign one of the religions to each Group
to identify its basic beliefs in an afterlife
Hinduism: Reincarnation, Moksha
Buddhism: Rebirth, Nirvana
Tibetan Buddhism: The Bardo as the Transition Period between
Life-Death-Rebirth
Read Chapter 15 and the following PowerPoint for next class:
DEC.9: THE PATH AHEAD: PERSONAL AND SOCIAL CHOICES
CHAPTER 15
Legacy Letter Due Wednesday, December 16 at 11:59 pm.
OBJECTIVES
- To identify and evaluate the social and personal consequences of studying death and dying.
- To define cultural competence and evaluate its role in modern societies.
- To assess new directions in thanatology and to suggest concerns that should be addressed.
- To gain a global perspective and cultural sensitivity in studying death and dying.
- To identify features inherent in creating “compassionate cities.”
- To notice how the study of death and dying engages both your mental faculties and emotions.
- To identify and appraise for oneself the qualities associated with an appropriate or a “good” death.
- To analyze speculation about attitudes and practices related to death in the future and to assess the potential effects of these changes on individuals and society.
CONTENT OVERVIEW Death is the ultimate challenge to human vanity or pretension.
- Exploring death awakens us to the precariousness of life and the preciousness of relationships with others. It fosters insight and knowledge and helps us come to terms with our own mortality.
- Coming to terms with our own finiteness and mortality can be understood as a process of mourning—a lifelong experience in coping with uncertainty, impermanence, and vulnerability, all qualities inherent in being mortal.
- Achieving cultural competence and a global perspective helps make a difference in attitudes and practices regarding dying, death, and bereavement.
- The study of death takes into account the actions of individuals as well as the customs of entire societies; it leads naturally to the arena of political decisions and ultimately brings us to choices of an emphatically personal nature.
Legacy
- Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture Video (45 minutes)
- Legacy Letter Workshop How would you like to be remembered? What are the values you would like to leave as a legacy through your achievements or beliefs? What would you include in an ethical will?
Conclusion
From the beginning of our course, we have acknowledged our sometimes deep fear about the end of life, "the unknown" that awaits us. Exploring our beliefs about immortality may not make us more acceptant of death, Nevertheless, such exploration can help us to develop a more coherent philosophy of life and death.
Thank you for taking this academic and personal journey with me to explore perspectives of death and dying. Maybe we have learned that, if we are not afraid of death, we may not be afraid of life. Death is a stage of life.
In the course we have encountered an image of a Sunset representing dying and an image of a Sunrise representing a new beginning. They are stages of the Sun's movement; perhaps as life and death are stage of human existence.
Fading rays of sunlight over water to represent dying.
Sun rays rising over mountains representing a new beginning.
Course Evaluation Survey
Please take the non-graded Course Evaluation Survey below:
Course Summary:
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