Required Texts:
How We Die, Sherwin Nuland
On Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Good Night, My Son, Esther F. Smucker
A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis
The Sacred Art of Dying, Kenneth Kramer
reserve readings*


Recommended Texts:
The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, Starhawk
The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy

*A Note on Reserve Readings: Many of the reserve readings can be found in the library on Temple's Ambler campus; these are designated in the syllabus with the notation (R). However, several are available only on-line, at National Public Radio's "End of Life" web site. There are two kinds of reserve readings you will find at this site. The first is selections from various essays, fiction, poetry, etc., which you can read on-line. These are generally very shor t; they are designated in the syllabus with the notation (NPR-R). The second kind of readings you will find at the NPR site is a series of transcripts from past radio shows they have done on this topic. You can read these, or you can listen to them on the computer through Real Audio®; these are designated in the syllabus with the notation (NPR-T).

Daily Reading Assignments

7/6 Introduction
Richard Kalish, "Horse on the Dining Room Table" (handout)
VIDEO: Star Trek: Voyager, "Mortal Coil"

7/8 Death and Religion: Neo-Paganism and Traditional Religions
Kramer, pp. 169-177
Starhawk, 3-25, 78-104 (R)

Recommended On-line Materials:
Neo-Pagan: Reclaiming Collective Web Page

7/13 Death and Religion: Hinduism and Buddhism
Kramer, pp. 27-80
choose one item from the Recommended list below to read or listen to

Recommended On-line Materials:
Buddhism: Rinpoche, "The Essential Phowa Practice" (NPR-R);
"Reincarnation: Tibetan Buddhism" (NPR-T)

7/15 Death and Religion: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Kramer, pp. 122-168
choose one item from the Recommended list below to read or listen to.

Recommended On-line Materials:
Judaism: Hammer, "Rites of Mourning, Part 1 and Part 2" (NPR-R);
"Mourner's Kaddish" (NPR-R);
"Burial Society" (NPR-T)
Klug, "Jewish Funeral Customs"
Klug, "Jewish Views on the Afterlife"
Christianity: Episcopal Church, "Ministration at the Time of Death" (NPR-R) or
"The Burial of the Dead: Rite Two" (R);
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Guidelines for Funerals;
Roman Catholic Church, selections from "Roman Funeral, Part 1 and Part 2"
Muslim:"Death and Burial of a Muslim, Part 1 and Part 2" (NPR-R)

7/20 Death: A Physical Experience
Nuland: Choose two segments of reading from the following list:

• Heart Disease: pp. 3-42
  
• Old Age/Alzheimer's: pp. 43-117
  
• AIDS: pp. 163-201
  
• Cancer: pp. 202-241

7/22 Dying: A Psychological Experience
Kübler-Ross, chapters 2-6

7/27 Dying Well/Hospice
Palmer, "The Last Days of Ed Decker" (R);
"Preparing for Approaching Death, Part 1 and Part 2" (NPR-R);
Williams, "Snowy Egrets" (handout);
Lorde, excerpt from "The Cancer Journals" (handout);
choose one additional item from the Recommended lists.

Recommended Reading:
Woodward and McCormick, "The Art of Dying Well" (R);

Recommended On-line Materials:
Bernadin "The Gift of Life" (NPR-R);
"The Story of Helen Payne, Part 1 and Part 2" (NPR-T);
Cassell, "A Simplified Description of the Person, Part 1 and Part 2" (NPR-R);
Byock, excerpt from Dying Well: The Prospect of Growth at the End of Life (NPR-R)
MacDonald, "The Emerging Field of Palliative Medicine" (NPR-R);
"The Place of Palliative Medicine" (NPR-T);
"About Advanced Directives, Part 1 and Part 2"
Rom, "On Losing a Parent: Tips on Coping"

7/29 Dying: Ethical Issues
Jonas, "The Right To Life" (R);
Meyer, "Truth and the Physician" (R);
Wolf, "Gender, Feminism, and Death: Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia" (R)

Recommended Reading:
Nuland, pp. 118-162;
Colt, "The Slot Machine" (R)

8/3 Don't Let the Class Kill Ya Day
Please catch up on last week's reading and choose one of the articles from the Recommended lists below (or from last week) to read. We will watch a video and then together do a sample ethical case study based on what we view.

In-Class Video: "Please Let Me Die"

Recommended Reading:
Jakobovits, "Ethical Problems Regarding the Termination of Life" (R);
Maguire, "Deciding for Yourself: The Objections" (R);
Belkin, "There's No Such Thing as a Simple Suicide" (R)

Recommended On-line Materials:
"Critique of the Double Effect" (NPR-T)

8/5 Death and Children
Smucker
Pinkson, "Do They Celebrate Christmas in Heaven?" (CR);

8/10 Grieving
Lewis;
"Roundtable: Grief and Bereavement" (NPR-T)

Recommended On-line Materials:
Jaffe and Ehrlich, excerpt from All Kinds of Love: Experiencing Hospice (NPR-R);
Poindexter, "The Anatomy of a Friendship" (R)

8/12 Funerals
Palmer, "Sad Music and Slow Driving" (R);
Michael, "Bo's Cremation" (R);
choose one item from the Recommended lists below

In-Class Video: "60-Minutes" segment on funeral homes

Recommended Reading:
Larson, "Fight to the Death" (R);
Nichols, "Funerals: A Time for Grief and Growth" (R)

Recommended On-line Materials:
Lynch, "The Undertaking" Part 1 and Part 2" (NPR-R);
"Do It Yourself Funerals(NPR-T);
"Funeral Homes"(NPR-T);
"Alternative
Funerals"(NPR-T)

Death and Dying Page || Class Assignments || Course Policies || Student Writings [available only at the original site]