Course Descriptions

HED 115 - Death and Dying

3 Credits

This course will discuss issues related to the experience of death, dying, loss and bereavement through a multi and cross-cultural lens of race, class and gender. The course will explore the historical and contemporary issues around community and individual health, life expectancy, mortality, and morbidity rates, as well as geographic, social and cultural aspects of loss. Students will explore the impact of the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, social justice, equity and access in lives of diverse communities as it pertains to loss. Topics include attitudes about death, loss in the lives of adults and children, modes of death, death and loss rituals within cultures and communities, suicide, violence, trauma, illness, disease, living wills, funeral plans as well as historical and current practices and trends in health care

New SUNY General Education: SUNY - Critical Thinking and Reasoning Competency, SUNY - Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice

Retiring SUNY General Education: SUNY-WC - Western Civilization (SWCV)

MCC General Education: MCC-CT - Critical Thinking (MCT), MCC-GLO - Global Understanding (MGLO), MCC-SSD - Social Science and Diversity (MSSD), MCC-VE - Values and Ethics (MVE)

Course Learning Outcomes
1. Identify the emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, behavioral, social, economic, or cultural impact to various modalities of loss.
2. Describe societal factors that influence the grief, bereavement or mourning responses of diverse groups from past to present.
3. Discuss the societal and geographic factors, including race, class, and gender, that influence rates of morbidity and mortality among groups and communities.
4. Examine the ways in which social structures or systems impact the experience of diverse groups as it pertains to death, dying and loss.
5. Using the lens of race, class, and gender, analyze equity and ethical practices in health care as they pertain to morbidity and life expectancy of diverse populations.
6. Evaluate the significance of social justice and equity as it relates to loss and death.
7. Develop a personal plan for dying and death that incorporates personal beliefs, culture, or rituals along with course materials surrounding death planning.
8. Compare personal death, dying or loss practices in varying cultures.

Use links below to see if this course is offered:
Fall Semester 2024
Intersession 2025
Spring Semester 2025