PSY 2006 - Death, Dying, and Grief

3 lecture hours 0 lab hours 3 credits

Course Description
This course provides an in-depth examination of death, dying, and grief from a psychological perspective. The course is designed to build students’ confidence when discussing death and death-related concepts by encouraging direct and objective examination of death topics. Topics of discussion include death, dying, and grief in America; how different cultures think about death; logistics surrounding death; how death affects people at different ages; and stigmatized death. After taking this course, students should be more comfortable talking about death-related issues, be more capable of supporting loved ones in times of grief, and think about death, dying, and grief in an open and real way. This course meets the following Raider Core CLO requirement: Exhibit Curiosity. (prereq: none)

Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Identify their own attitudes regarding death and dying
Examine death, dying, and grief in a culturally competent manner
Discuss topics of death, dying, and grief openly
Recognize methods to support individuals who are dying and/or grieving
Distinguish ways in which death, dying, and bereavement differ across the lifespan
Document everyday influences of death and dying
Reflect on various stigmatized topics (i.e., suicide, assisted suicide) objectively

Prerequisites by Topic

None

Course Topics

Defining death and related terminology
Historical perspective of death and dying
Death encounters: statistics and everyday experiences
Death attitudes: language, media, and culture
Cross-cultural perspectives and cultural competence
Grief: types, developmental experiences, and supportive behaviors
Disenfranchised grief and ambiguous loss
Preparation: caregiving, hospice, advanced directives, organ donation, wills
Body disposition, death certificates, and after-death rituals
Suicide and assisted suicide
Other stigmatized death experiences (e.g., abortion, capital punishment, COVID-19)

Coordinator
Dr. Lauren Beverung

Announcement

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Milwaukee School of Engineering

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PSY 2006 - Death, Dying, and Grief