What to Know about Death and Dying

When one considers a discussion one death and dying, it is not always an enjoyable conversation but in class that expectation was defied and we were given a wonderful and interesting insight into that world. Today in class we had the pleasure of listening to a lecture from sociology professor Dr. George E. Dickinson on Death and Dying. Many different topics can be considered when one discusses death and he covered many of them including society's idea on dying, death anxiety/fear, and even the different stages of the dying process. He also included other things such as the rising Death Cafe's in Western culture and present opinions on euthanasia in the United States.

Something that he discussed that really interested me on was his discussion on the different historical overviews throughout the years. It was really fascinating how death was thought of in different ages going from an age where you were to be reminded of death constantly and into the present moment where we are reminded of death but do not want to discuss it. During the time between 1830-1945 death was not really discussed. As the professor said, "Out of sight out of mind" was the sort of perspective that people had during that time which is one of the reasons why cemeteries were beginning to be built farther away from cities and were given a new mission when people came there to visit. "People visited the cemeteries to admire the beauty and enjoy life" as the professor stated and I feel that that can also be evident in present times.

Something else that really interested me was how our society denies death due to fear or anxiety. It do not want to consider death because it makes us uncomfortable as he stated. "We don't die in American, we just go to sleep." This perspective is common in this country and we often use euphemisms in order to avoid the harshness that "death" would have. 

Overall his lecture was very interesting and not at all heavy and perhaps dark that would often be suggested when one considers death and dying. He mentioned many interesting facts and stories that pertained to the subject that I really enjoyed listening to. I definitely learned a lot from him and maybe even hope to take his class in the future.