“The Wholeness of Things”: Infusing Diversity and Social Justice into Death Education

Abstract

This article presents resources and strategies for the infusion of diversity and social justice themes into an undergraduate death and dying course. The intent is not to replace or dismiss existing thanatological insights and debates, but rather to widen the cultural perspective to bring these insights and debates into conversation with multiple ways of perceiving and understanding. The article covers definitions, goals and rationales, challenges in identifying and developing appropriate resources, and overall course design. It also explores readings, audiovisual materials, class activities, and pedagogical approaches to foster: student engagement with diverse world-views and experiences; understanding of “cultural competence” in various fields; awareness of the impact of race, class, gender, etc., on access to resources and care; commitment to activism for social justice; and exposure to many forms of resilience, meaning-making, and creative healing. … whenever there was a death in the village, she was the first to be sent for—the priest came second. For it was she who understood the wholeness of things—the significance of directions and colors. Prayers to appease the hungry ghosts. Elixirs for grief (Watanabe, 1992, p. 603). … the action most worth watching is not at the center of things but where the edges meet. I like shorelines, weather fronts, international borders. There are interesting frictions and incongruities in these places and often, if you stand at the point of tangency, you can see both sides better … (Fadiman,1997, p. viii). The only really happy people I have ever met are those of us who work against these deaths with all the energy of our living, recognizing the deep and fundamental unhappiness with which we are surrounded, at the same time as we fight to keep from being submerged by it (Lorde, 1980, p. 77).