Death, Dying, Grief and Loss

Catalog description

This course is devoted to an exploration of the social, theoretical, and cultural aspects of death, dying, grief and loss (DDGL) in contemporary society. Students will explore a variety of theoretical approaches to death and grief across the life course, with specific attention paid to how death experiences and death care may be disparate across intersecting categories of age, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. The course will include a discussion of the roles played by social work practitioners in end-of-life care, the evidence-supported approaches to treatment they employ, and the ways they can protect against secondary traumatic stress over time.