Module Assignment #2 - "Global Death"
“We die a day at a time”
― Bangambiki Habyarimana,
The Great Pearl of Wisdom
2.1 - Overview
Global Death
The purpose of Homework Assignment #2 is to: (a) provide you with an appreciation for "placing death in perspective" and, (b) to provide you with "hands on experience" in learning all about the many attitudes that prevail in understanding death and dying in our society, past and present.
2.2 - Using The Internet To Conduct Psych Research
Researching Thanatology
Theme - In this "Internet Research Project," you are to seek out one scientific journal article and one national media article that discusses death, also known as thanatology. Your are urged to use the Internet exclusively, though you may use Plover Library or other such "land-based" resources. Review each Website and then write up a descriptive reaction to each.
Task - The following links below will take you to some excellent resources related to aging, dying, and death. Once there, click on something of interest and then be prepared to discuss them in the "Blue Book" section at the end of this assignment.
Aging, Dying, Death, and Grief Links to an external site.
You may wish to consider how the Muslim faith views death and the afterlife? A good link for this follows.
Islamic Beliefs on Death and Afterlife Links to an external site.
The following link will take you to Doyle Library's Electronic Databases. Here you will find search engines that particularly designed for scholarly and media retrieval.
2.3 - Psychology Based Websites
Using Internet Tools To Learn About Death and Dying
Task - For the following psychologically oriented Websites, report back what you learned from exploring any one of the many sub-categories listed. A tightly written paragraph--or better yet a page--sharing what you learned and what your reactions were, would be most appreciated.
Professor's Favorite Section: "Resources and Reviews"
Death and Dying Resources Links to an external site.
The Order of New Death is a nonprofit organization of funeral industry professionals, academics, and artists exploring ways to prepare a death phobic culture for their inevitable mortality. They operate a blog and, for those who use social media, a Facebook page that explores multiple facets of death and provides up-to-date information on current events in the 'death community'. They also provide a list of 'death positive' events occurring world-wide and a video series addressing a wide variety of death-related questions.
http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/ Links to an external site.
2.4 - Textbook Reading Assignment - Chapter 1
Title - Attitudes Towards Death: A Climate of Change
Your primary textbooks include The Last Dance (10th ed.) by Lynne Ann DeSpelder and Albert Lee Strickland (New York: McGraw, 2014) and Grieving Days, Healing Days, by J. Davis Mannino (San Francisco, California: TeddyBear Publishing, 2013).
Primary Readings
As you read Chapter 1,"Attitudes Towards Death: A Climate of Change" in The Last Dance, you should keep in mind the following key questions and core concepts.
Content Overview
1. Attitudes toward death are expressed in the mass media and through language, music, literature, visual arts, and humor.
2. From pioneering efforts in the 1950s and 1960s, education about dying, death, and bereavement has achieved widespread acceptance.
3. Thanatology—the study of death—is composed of multiple dimensions and strives to create movement toward knowledge and actions that allow us to deal with death intelligently and with compassion.
4. Death anxiety and the related concepts of fear, threat, terror, and concern with the prospect of one’s own death encompasses practical issues that human beings experience in their encounters with dying, death, and bereavement.
5. Death education addresses objective facts and subjective concerns with courses offered through a variety of disciplines.
6. Our ancestors experienced death more frequently, and more often firsthand, than we do today. The reasons for this include changes in life expectancy and mortality rates, the causes of death, geographical mobility, displacement of death from the home to the hospital and other institutional settings, and advances in life-sustaining medical technologies.
7. Although many people no longer consider death and dying as taboo topics, society sometimes manifests features of death avoidance that hinder open discussion and acceptance.
8. The interrelated disciplines of death education, counseling, and care of the dying continue to evolve; one of the most pressing needs involves a deeper recognition of the diversity of experiences present in cosmopolitan, pluralistic societies.
9. Our attitudes toward death develop out of a lifetime of experiences with significant losses beginning in childhood and continuing into old age. Exploring the meaning of these losses and their influence on our attitudes and practices is part of a comprehensive study of death and dying.
10. The term cultural lag describes the phenomenon of a society falling behind in dealing with new challenges resulting from rapid technological and social change.
Objectives
1. To identify historical antecedents of current attitudes toward death.
2. To describe how attitudes toward death are expressed in the mass media and through language, music, literature, the visual arts, and humor.
3. To define thanatology and give examples of its various dimensions.
4. To summarize research about death anxiety and terror management theory.
5. To identify key events and personalities in the rise of death education.
6. To list and analyze factors that have contributed to a lessened familiarity with death.
7. To examine common assumptions about death.
8. To identify the impact of death in a cosmopolitan society.
9. To explore one’s own losses and attitudes toward death.
Key Terms and Concepts
cause of death
cosmopolitan society
cultural lag
danger-of-death narratives
death anxiety
death cafŽ
death education
death notice
death rates
death talk
demographics
Dies Irae
digital afterlife
dirge
egalitarian obit
elegy
epidemiologic transition
epitaph
euphemism
geographic mobility
globalization
hibakusha
kanikau
keening
lament
life expectancy
life-extending technologies
lossography
managed death
mean world syndrome
memorialization
mortality salience
narcocorridos
obituary
plastination
postmodernism
public event vs. private loss
revictimization
sites of memory
terror management
thanatology
vigilante stories
Questions For Guided Study And Evaluation
1. Describe the ways in which the media portray death, citing at least one statistic regarding the amount of coverage.
2. Describe how television portrayals of violent death reflect the “mean world” syndrome.
3. Identify three kinds of “death talk” and explain the function of each using specific examples.
4. Explain the ways in which language and humor can be used to distance people from the reality of death.
5. Explain and illustrate how attitudes toward death are expressed through the arts.
6. Trace the history of death education by citing at least five influential books and at least one professional organization.
7. Name at least four dimensions of thanatology and cite examples of each.
8. Identify Ernest Becker’s “four strands of emphasis” in terror management theory.
9. List and describe at least four factors that have contributed to changes in death customs from the nineteenth century to the present.
10. Compare the death rate in 1900 with that of today.
11. Trace the changing causes of death in 1900 through today, paying particular attention to the effects of the epidemiologic transition.
12. Suggest reasons for studying death and dying, using both the discussion in the text and your own experience.
Task 2.4 - In the section above entitled: "Questions For Guided Study And Evaluation," briefly discuss any two questions you wish. Be sure to have enough length and quality to properly respond to each question.
Related Links
"In the democracy of the dead, all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave," so said John James Ingalls. In the modules ahead, you will find more useful quotes and their related links relevant to each module's homework assignment.
No suggested link provided.
Practice Quiz - Chapter #1
Each course module has assigned textbook readings and accompanying testing. In this section you will find a practice quiz for each assigned textbook chapter in The Last Dance. The quiz link is below.
Psych 56 - Chapter #1 Quiz - "Attitudes Towards Death"
2.5 - "Grieving Days, Healing Days" - The Workbook
Learning Through "Hands-On" Doing
Overview
Grieving Days, Healing Days, is an interactive workbook written by Dr. J. Davis Mannino, 2013 (Formerly, Boston: Simon & Schuster, 1996). It is required for this course, because specific pages in the workbook are assigned as part of each homework assignment that you chose to complete.
Assignments to complete in Grieving Days, Healing Days will be listed in this section for each of the 16 homework assignments. Generally speaking, assignments are due by the assigned date. This workbook is loaded with readings, exercises, and activities that will enhance your learning of many important topics in the study of death and dying --- a field that is better known as "thanatology."
It is also important to remember that certain workbook pages will be required reading for assignments that you choose to complete. Therefore, always review and read workbook readings for each of the homework assignments you choose to complete as part of the course requirement. Choose assignments that fulfill your overall course requirement from GDHD.
Workbook Reading Assignment
1. Review Grieving Days, Healing Days and become familiar with it.
2. At minimum, read and complete ANY THREE of the following assignments in Grieving Days, Healing Days. This only applies to those HW assignments you are completing as part of the course requirement. They may also be credited towards your overall course workbook requirement as well. Please note that all online homework assignments must, at minimum, still be read and reviewed.
Death Images and You, p. 8
Color of Death, p. 9
Color of Life, p. 10
Expectations of Life, p. 11
Assessing Your Life Expectancy, p. 12
Death and Dying - Spirit and Soul, p. 18
Euphemisms for Death, p. 21
Media Images of Death, p. 27
Television and Death, p. 28
Deathbed Media Scenes, p. 29
Human and Death, p. 30
2.6 - Course Discussion Board
Module #2 - Thought Provoking Question (TPQ) or Article
Overview - The purpose of a course discussion board is to allow students and professor an opportunity to interact about topics of common interest. A discussion board is also a fine tool to share commonly asked questions, answers, and concerns.
You are urged to use the message board, when you have questions that you think others may wish to know; when you have technical questions or answers that others may wish to know, and to share other useful tidbits with each other. I want each of you to become familiar with the message board system.
Once you have composed your thoughts and written them down in a word application program [i.e., Microsoft word] --- with grammar and spell check---you follow through with posting (copy and pasting) them. Remember, to be sure you also post your comments in the appropriate place in the task boxes that links later in this assignment. You only do this if you are also submitting this ENTIRE assignment as one of your required four online assignments for this course.
Task - In each class module, there will be one thought-provoking course related question or article for which discussion is expected from students. While not always directly related to assigned readings, they have important course-wide implications. You are expected to respond to each TPQ by the end of each class module's deadline Be sure to place the question/article module number (#) in the "subject line" so your classmates will know which module topic you are addressing.
Since there is only one "thought-provoking question or article " (TPQ) due per module during the regular semester, a minimum response of 250 to 500 words is required for each message board TPQ posting. Also, students need to post a TPQ for EACH of the 15 online assignments.
This Assignment's Thought Provoking Question (TPQ) or Article
The following link is a graded assignment for the TPQ. (1) Click on the link below, (2) read the TPQ or article, and then (3) respond in the student posting area provided at the end of the article.
Thought Provoking Reading #2 - "Losses Among The Living"
2.7 - Death: A Personal Understanding
Overview
Welcome to a new video feature for my online course.
It is a very fascinating series by the world-renowned Annenberg Media Series. This video instructional series on death and dying is intended for college classrooms and adult learners. It is a 10 part series of half-hour video programs that focus on death and its many facets.
Gain a greater understanding of death and dying through case studies and moving personal stories of people facing their own death or the death of a loved one. This series explores a wide range of North American cultural perspectives on death within the context of current issues, including AIDS, death by violence, suicide, assisted suicide, hospice care, end-of-life decision making, and how children react to death. Leading authority Robert J. Kastenbaum guides you sensitively through these topics. This series is appropriate for courses in allied health, psychology, sociology, religion, and death studies.
Directions
When you arrive at the website, click the video icon you wish to view that says "VoD" [Video on Demand] and then when the "pop-up box" opens, click on the start arrow. Keep in mind that with "streaming videos," some of the film [buffering] must load so it can take up to a minute to load and sometimes it helps if you click on the start arrow again in the "pop-up box." Once you get the hang of it, you will find they all work the same, though with some quirky moments at times. You can also click on an icon in the video box allowing you to enlarge the video to "full screen." Just click on the "esc" button on your keyboard to leave the "full screen" view format.
Closed Captioning Note: For my students with disability challenges, there is a "closed captioning" option with this series. As you watch this video, after start up, click in the upper right hand side of the screen and you will see a icon that shows whether the captioning is on or off. To turn it on, click on it and you will see the on off switch change. I find I like watching the videos with captioning on as I have some hearing problems and I can catch everything everyone is saying especially if they are not talking clearly.
Video # 1 - What Is Death?
Definitions of death have been debated for centuries, depending on culture, social conditions, and the role of the medical profession. In this program, we see how ideas have changed historically and how our newest definitions, like "brain death," may not yet be adequate for encompassing all of death's meanings.
Task
When done reviewing the assigned video, prepare a thorough reaction statement at the "Blue Book" section link described further down at the end of this assignment.
"Death: A Personal Understanding" - The Series Link Links to an external site.
2.8 - Assignment #2 "Blue Book" Responses
Composing Your Responses To Assignment #2 in Module #2
Overview - For each course module there is a major homework assignment that must be completed. Each of these module homework assignments has several tasks. Some entail reading, some include exploring and reviewing websites, reviewing videos, and still others involve written tasks --- work that must be submitted for review and/or grading.
Responses to "tasks" must be sent on time or you will either fail the assignment or be severely penalized. Late homework assignments are perceived as both a student who is "absent from class" and "late with work." Please always maintain a backup copy of all your written work. Glitches occur in online technology-based education, but ultimately it is your responsibility to maintain adequate backup of all work submitted. You are also encouraged to compose your work within a word-processing application and then "copy and paste" into "task boxes." This is so you may avail yourself of spell and grammar check options provided in most modern word processing software.
Please be aware that all submissions are automatically received by the course "gradebook," where they will be evaluated by your professor for acceptance, rejection, or acceptance with penalty. So make sure your work is received promptly. Much the same way that attendance is determined by you presence in the traditional classroom at the regularly scheduled class time, so too is attendance determined by your prompt submission of assignments while enrolled in an online course. Furthermore, arriving to class without homework or with incomplete homework is also perceived in the same manner with an online course. Accordingly, you are encouraged to submit you weekly work prior to deadlines, to avoid computer glitches, "downtime," and other "technological spills and inconveniences."
Directions - Each numbered task box listed below corresponds with tasks described in each module's homework assignment. Usually, tasks outlined on this webpage require written reactions and/or responses.
Be sure to follow directions carefully and precisely when completing each task. "A word to the wise!" Minimal work receives a minimal grade. For example, if a task asks that you provide a written paragraph or two, and you provide just that, then you have provided only minimal work. Simply said, minimal work is "C" work. Well thought out writing that exceeds both excellence and minimal length (word count) and quality requirements is, generally speaking, graded higher and indicative of a "good and solidly motivated student." However length in of itself does not assure quality either, so learn to strike a balance. Good luck!
Particulars - Remember this module is due by a certain date or will be penalized. Overly late assignments may NOT be accepted at all, and at minimum, marked down. The discretion of the professor rules in all such matters. Was your assignment "Online and Ontime?" Before beginning this first homework assignment be sure you understand the word count and quality requirements (1500 to 3000 words depending on grade desired). See Grading Policy in Course Basics at the Course Syllabus for further information regarding requirements and grading of module submissions.
Module Assignment #2 "Blue Book" [Graded Responses Go Here]