Department of Social & Policy Sciences, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
XX50188 Dying and mourning in social science and art |
| Credits: 12 |
| Level: Masters |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: ES100 |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: This unit aims to help students integrate social scientific and artistic understandings of dying and grief. More specifically, it aims to enable students to appreciate and critically examine:
* the changing demographics of dying; * how health and care systems address the dying experiences of people of different ages and with different diseases; * how grief is socially, culturally, individually and politically shaped; * how dying and mourning are conceptualised in the social sciences and represented in a variety of arts; * relationships between a) the experience of death and loss, b) social scientific attempts to create generalisable theory, c) artistic attempts to represent what may be unspeakable, and d) therapeutic practice. Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to: * Explain and analyse the specific historical, cultural and demographic circumstances of dying in the contemporary world; * Discuss and critically evaluate the cultural appropriateness of palliative care; * Identify and critically evaluate social science models and frameworks for understanding grief and bereavement; * Critically discuss how death and loss may be represented through the arts; * Discuss the relationship between social scientific, artistic, and therapeutic understandings of dying and mourning, and demonstrate an ability to integrate at least two such understandings. Skills: * Develop skills to reflect on the suitability of diverse approaches for investigating and analysing problems. * Synthesise information from a variety of academic perspectives for a relevant understanding of theoretical and practical approaches. * Analyse and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of distinct academic and professional perspectives. * Identify and access relevant information sources. * Communicate complex issues and perspectives through written and oral media. * Develop skills of time management, workload prioritisation and related planning skills. * Develop good writing and presentation skills. * Develop individual practical and critical skills in connection to death and at least one art form. * Ability to analyse representations of death and loss. Content: End-of-life issues, such as: * Health promoting palliative care * Palliative care - its application outside cancer and the Anglophone world * Dying in old age * Stigmatised dying: dementia, AIDS Theories of grief and loss, in: * Psychology * Sociology * Politics The representation of death and loss in a variety of arts. The particular art forms considered will depend both on available staff and on students' interests, eg: * Photography * Painting * Music * Literature Therapeutic practice: * Critical assessment of the role of social science and art in facilitating palliative and bereavement care Throughout, students will be encouraged to develop their own project that relates to their own personal interests or professional practice. |