Dr. Dickinson Speaks of Death.....Spooooky!

On April 2nd Dr. Dickinson came to visit our class! Dr. Dickinson is a sociology professor at the College of Charleston.  He went to Louisiana State University where he got his Ph.D., sociology major, and anthropology minor.  He also went to Baylor University where he got his M.A., sociology, B.A., biology major, and sociology minor. He teaches courses dealing with death and dying, which is why he came to speak to our class! 

He first began to speak of the historical overview of death and the bereavement in the United States.  He explained that in the 1600-1830s that "the living death people is when people were very cognitive about death."  People were very cognitive about death because people died frequently because the US lacked the technology/doctors.  Therefore, people during this time accepted death because of the high mortality rates and had this attitude that "whatever happens, happens and that God is in control."  

Then he explains 1830-1945 which was the period of the dying death. during this period the cemeteries were moved from out of town. The cemeteries were moved to places where they were "out of sight and out of mind."  In other words, the cemeteries were moved out on the edge of cities in the US so people were not constantly reminded of death.  This is why Magnolia Cemetery is on the outskirts of Charleston. 

While the history of death was very interesting, the most interesting fact I heard was that active euthanasia is legal in 8 states, these states include: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Montana, Washington DC, and California. Active euthanasia is the intentional act of causing the death of a patient experiencing great suffering.  This was shocking to me because I had no idea that this was legal in some US states. Personally, I do not think this is ethical, but I am very interested to see what happens in the future considering Dr. Dickinson predicted that this would be legal in all states by the time I am his age. Overall, Dr. Dickinson kept it very interesting throughout his presentation and I advise students to take his class!